Teen Titans: Inferno
by Ifrit and Ivy
Summary: Revised: After the events in Tokyo, the team receive a transmission from Batman of a new recruit. But this new member isn't want any of them expect, but one titan finds this new recruit...interesting. Raven/OC Ifrit .
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer**: No I don't own Teen Titans or Batman, both are the rightful property of DC Comics and Cartoon Network. Only rights pertaining to this story is the plot and original character: Ifrit.

**A/N**: Hello everyone. Yes, again I'm doing a restart on one of my stories. Mainly because it's completely outdated and I know I can do better than its original version. Also, I've lost heart with how to get this one going and figured like Scarlet Embrace, if I just start from scratch, it'll all come back bigger and better. What's more I will be posting each new chapter each week, so there won't be any lag time that I seem to keep falling into; a really bad habit that I've been trying to cure. Then again, when you're trying to balance writing, daily life, and some personal time, it's very complicated and time-consuming, so I'll only say this once: I apologize to my readers but understand, I'm human, too.

Now with that all said...let's sit back, get some marshmallows, because this party is gonna be on fire!

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**An Old Flame**

There came a very loud knocking from her door. "Good morning, Raven! It is time to awaken!"

From her comfy bed, she groaned and opened one sleepy eye before closing it and rolling over to try and go back to sleep. She had no such luck when the knocking became even louder.

"Raven! We must start preparing for our new teammate's arrival!" Starfire practically shouted.

Raven groaned even louder and sat right up, glaring at her door lazily. "Fine, fine...you win. I'm up."

"Raven!" Starfire kept pounding on her door, not able to hear her friend from the noise she was making.

Raven grimaced and used her powers to open her battered door. "I'm awake, dammit! Stop putting dents on my door!"

The redhead zoomed right into her room and tackled her with a hug. "Isn't today wonderful! We finally get to meet Robin's mentor and we gain a new friend!"

"A-Air!" Raven choked, her face turning a darker purple than her hair.

"OH! I am sorry!" Starfire said in embarrassment, loosening her bone-crushing hold. "I am just so excited with who is coming today!"

"I know, Starfire...you've been telling me ever since we got the call from Batman when we came back from Tokyo," Raven grumbled, pushing the redhead off her to give her some space, then yawned. "I've barely gotten any sleep since we got back..."

"I do apologize, Raven. It's just that I've heard so much about Robin's mentor, but never seen a picture of him. I just cannot wait to see the man that took care of Robin when he was small," Starfire said, resting more comfortably on the bed.

Raven felt her chest twitch at the mention of the Boy Wonder. "Yeah..."

Starfire didn't see the small frown that appeared on the empath's pale lips. She was too focused on the visitors to notice her friend's sudden depressed attitude. Which was good, as Raven quickly masked her feelings once she realized she was frowning. She did not need Starfire to worry and wonder why she had gotten upset when she mentioned Robin. It was long hidden secret of hers that she had a crush for the Boy Wonder. How could she not? He had accepted her into his team when she first arrived on Earth, giving her a home and friends. He saved her at every turn of danger that befell her...even from her father when she had lost all hope. He was the knight in shining armor that any girl had wanted to come to their rescue, but...he already had his princess. It was how it always went. The knight would always be paired with the beautiful princess of the story. Never would he notice anyone else in the background...like her, the dark sorceress, who always had an unhappy ending.

It was an old flame that she had carried for him until their recent trip to Tokyo. How she really hated that trip. Everything that could have gone wrong, went wrong. They ended up being tricked by the major authority, then Robin got accused for a fake murder, and then they're all being chased around Tokyo by creatures made from animated ink, and then battling a freaky ink-tentacle monster, and the worst of all...Robin and Starfire officially proclaimed their relationship as more than just friends and teammates. She was happy for them, sure. They were her friends and she wanted them to be happy, but when she saw them kiss...the flame she had for Robin died.

It would have hurt more had she tried to keep carrying it. She didn't wish to do anything to ruin her friend's happiness or the team, so she silently broke off any hopes of being with the Boy Wonder and bowed out to let her friends be with each other. After all, it was more of a crush than anything really deep. She treasured the bond of friendship with Robin more than anything and, in a way, was too scared to let anything ruin that, even a small fantasy that they could become something more. No, she would be content that her two friends were happiest with each other and support them to the end. That was the conclusion she regretfully came to when they left Tokyo and were returning home.

Surprisingly, as they were halfway over the ocean, Robin got a call from his ex-partner and mentor, Batman. It was even more of a surprise for Robin when he informed that he would be dropping by Titans Tower to deliver a potential member for their team after they returned home.

It turned out that during their skirmish in Tokyo, Gotham City had had its own load of trouble with a criminal that had used another well-known criminal's equipment to try and hold the city ransom. Batman hadn't gotten into any more details about it, but he did mention that during the incident, he came across a teenager that proved very valuable in stopping the low-time crook. When Robin asked him about the teenager, Batman said he'll meet him soon enough to understand, then cut the transmission. Ever since, Starfire was ecstatic with joy like the state she was in now. She was just bubbling with excitement and has been talking her ear off about the expected visit, and she was now on her last nerve with the alien princess.

But she had quickly learned the best way to get the redhead to leave her alone before she totally lost it. "Hey, Starfire? Don't you think Robin will need your help right now?"

"Yes, you're right! I need to go talk to him!" Starfire gushed and zoomed out of her room as fast as she could to look for the Boy Wonder.

Raven sighed heavily and rubbed her hair, finding it was in tangles and sticking up in odd places. A flash of her eyes and her hair instantly floated up and untangled itself and soon fell back down to rest in its normal style. One of the many perks of having powers like hers, was that she never had to worry about using a hairbrush. Yawning once more and stretching her tired limbs, she rolled out of bed and went to change into a fresh outfit and a quick run into her private bathroom, she then lit her favorite incense and some candles and began her morning meditation. She quickly fell into a deep trance and relished the peace and tranquility it brought her, even more now since he father had been defeated. His only hold on her was long gone and ever since she had found she was slowly beginning to have better control on of her powers, even able to risk feeling some of her emotions, but she still did not dare to let them get out of hand. Her powers were still too dangerous to fully believe she could be a normal human.

That was one of the many reasons she never dared to expose any hint to Robin that she liked him. If her powers could react so strongly as to manifest her feelings, like when she denied her fear...what would they do if she allowed herself to love?

The very thought had made her shudder when she had pondered over it...

Because of the great risk she would keep them locked up until she was sure she had total control. She had to remain in apathy to keep everything she really cared for safe. Then after the events in Tokyo, she confirmed it to herself that she would pull back any unneeded feelings toward the Boy Wonder and focus on taming her powers. It was the only way to ensure everyone's safety and her own; and yet, whenever she reminded herself that it was important that she do this, she couldn't stop herself from remembering just how utterly lonely this path was...

After an hour of mediating, she soon felt her stomach demand food with a loud grumble, forcing her to leave the comfortable isolation of her room and seek out substance. When she came to the kitchen, she found all her teammates working on making breakfast. Luckily, this morning it was Robin's turn, so there wouldn't be any arguments about what was going to be served, like whenever it was Cyborg or Beast Boy's turn. Both were very opinionated about their choice of food and will never back off whenever the other complained about what was better to eat.

She made her way to her sit at the table and just as she sat down, Robin had set her cup of herbal tea and some toast in front of her, smiling at her pleasantly.

"Morning, Raven...Starfire wake you up, too?" Robin asked knowingly.

Raven had to suppress the slight flutter in her stomach from seeing his smile and nodded. "...Yeah, she nearly broke my door down."

Robin shook his head as he kept on smiling. "Yeah, she gets a little too overeager, but she's just really curious, like the rest of us, who this new member might be."

"Yeah, I'd like to know myself," Cyborg added, pouring himself a large glass of milk and orange juice. "I mean, he was suggested by Batman to join the team. If he's got someone like him interested, I wonder what kind of a guy he is."

"It will be grand to meet him because this will also allow us to meet Robin's mentor, at last!" Starfire reminded everyone.

"Don't get too anxious, Star. This new guy might not be so wonderful as you're making him out to be. We don't know anything about him, except that Batman thinks he'd do well with us. He may have other reasons for putting him with us, like keeping an eye on him," Raven said skeptically. "For all we know, this guy may turn out to be very bad for the team, no offense to Batman's judgment, Robin. But we should keep an opened mind on what to expect from this new member."

Robin nodded in agreement. "That's how I was thinking. I know Batman wouldn't do this without a good reason, but he usually has other motives when he does something, or anything for that matter."

"So...we should not be happy about this new arrival?" Starfire asked sadly. She had been so looking forward to meeting this newcomer and would hate to find out he was indeed a questionable person.

"I don't know, Star. But we don't know anything about this guy so none of us can make any assumptions about his character. All we can do is wait till he and my ex-partner get here..." Robin said, hoping that would appease everyone.

To his relief, it helped Starfire stay in a positive mood and Raven nodded in consent. Now all he needed to do was not make any rash assumptions himself until he met this new possible addition to the team.

Deep in the Batcave, Alfred was finishing up loading some of the luggage of their recent guest in the Batjet. "That should do it. Are you sure you would not need more, Master Ifrit?"

A teenager, leaning against the Batjet, looked up at the faithful butler. "That will be more than I'm used to having, Alfred. I can make do." he said with a dry monotone voice that almost came more out like a smoky whisper.

"Well, if you ever do need something more, just call and I'm sure Master Bruce will see that it's sent to you," Alfred replied, sending a friendly smile down at the teenager.

The teenager just shrugged and pushed away from the Batjet and started climbing into the passenger seat in the cockpit. "...Thank you, Alfred. You've been very kind to me."

"Think nothing of it, Master Ifrit. It was a pleasure to see someone young walking in these halls once more...ever since Master Grayson left, it's been too quiet for this old place," Alfred said, shutting the container hatch. "Do feel free to call and visit when you get the chance, and maybe you can get Master Grayson to do the same."

"I'll see what I can do with him, but you can be sure I will stay in contact...as long as you want me to," Ifrit replied, his raspy voice taking on a lighter, softer tone.

"I would indeed!" Alfred said happily.

"I could stay if you want...I'm not sure about these people that Bruce wants me to be with," Ifrit admitted, sounding a bit uneasy.

"You'll be fine," Bruce said, walking toward the Batjet in his costume and slipping his mask on over his head, then spoke with a rougher, deeper tone. "They'll be exactly what you really need, Ifrit."

"...You keep saying that, but you never explained exactly why," Ifrit retorted with a gruff tone.

"After some experience with Robin. It's better that you're around people more your age than someone like me..." stated the dark knight as he climbed into the Batjet. "I cannot inflict my methods on anyone unwillingly. Robin chose his own path and now has a team of his own to rely and depend on. I believe you'd do better with him than if you stayed with me."

"If you say so...but if they don't accept me?" Ifrit questioned, gazing at the hero that took him and given him a better outlook of the world.

"They won't," Batman stated firmly as he closed the cockpit shielding and revved up the jet engines, then he glanced slightly back at him. "...But if for some reason they don't, call me."

The teenager released a sigh of worry that he had held, feeling slightly more at ease now. He had no great expectations of how this would all turn out. As soon as they laid eyes on him, he was sure they would see he wouldn't fit in with them, but Batman had kept on insinuating that they would accept him willingly. That they were a group of special individuals much like himself and would have no difficultly in fitting in with them. Again, he had no great expectations. He would see how it would go and if they showed any signs of reluctance, he would immediately return to Gotham and try to find his place in the dark, gloomy city. In fact, he hoped that it would turn out that way because in his short time in Gotham and around the legendary dark knight, he had come to really like it and could easily see himself making this his permanent residents. But he trusted Batman and would do as he asked him and meet his ex-partner and his team. Who knows, maybe something extraordinary waited for him there.

"I'm ready then," Ifrit said with confidence.

Batman nodded and began preparing for takeoff and they roared out of the Batcave. Their destination: Jump City.

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**A/N: **And there you have it, a brand new start. Please review and let me know what you think. The next installment will be posted very shortly, so don't fear.

_Till then..._


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer**: No I don't own Teen Titans or Batman, both are the rightful property of DC Comics and Cartoon Network. Only rights pertaining to this story is the plot and original character: Ifrit.

**A/N: **I'm really just gonna skip these until I've gotten some replies from everyone, so I'll just say enjoy until then.

* * *

**A New Flame**

It took only a matter of minutes for the Batjet to make the distance from Gotham to Jump City. Batman felt fortunate that Robin had picked a city still pretty close to Gotham when he departed to begin his crime-fighting career on his own. It made him feel that a part of Robin still wanted to be close, even after he had explicitly stated he wanted to be a solo act. The irony of it all, though, was as soon as he arrive to the city to make his own claim by himself, he instantly formed a team of young heroes to help protect the city when it was invaded by aliens, even if he had said it was by accident. At first he was against the very idea, thinking he was too young to take on a leading role, but as he observed his ex-partner secretly in the shadows, he was awed by just how much the boy had grown as a strong person. It made him very proud that how he treated his teammates as friends, rather than acquaintances to fight the criminal element...a trait he at times envied when it came to his own acquaintances.

He had thought the idea was too risky for Robin to do. Making deep bonds with his teammates and establishing a family-like relation amongst the team, but it worked! For him and his friends, that bond had led them through the toughest of situations, no matter how hopeless it had seemed.

That was why he wanted Ifrit to join the Titans. Because he needed a bond like theirs more than anything. He saw the signs quickly in the young teen that reminded too much of himself, but there were traits in him that worried him that he might take on a more 'violent' path than he had taken. The teen had a good heart, that much he could tell and he was strong, but on his own he feared that he'd become a wild card that may be a problem in the later future. He had seen troubled youths, making a study of them and even visiting some in detention centers in his civilian disguise as Bruce Wayne during his training years. Ifrit had shown enough of those worrying traits to make him fear the worst should he continue as he has. He hoped that being with the Titans, those traits would quickly vanish and make Ifrit the person he felt he had the potential to become.

Just as he pulled out of his pondering, he spotted Titans Tower as he descended the Batjet down from the sky.

"We're here," Batman informed.

The teen raised his head and leaned to the side of the cockpit to gaze at his new home. "...It looks weird. Why did they build it in the form of a letter?"

"You'll have to ask them that yourself," Batman replied, hoping to hear the answer himself as he too had wondered why the group of teenagers did that.

"...Strange," Ifrit said, leaning back into his seat.

Batman smirked and began landing preparations as they neared the roof of the tower. He hit the com-switch on the right dashboard. "Batjet, calling Titans Tower. Come in."

"Robin, here! We see you, Batman. Just land on the roof, we're prepared for your arrival," his partner replied from the tower.

"Roger," Batman said, cutting off the link and angling the Batjet and switching to hover-mode just over the tower.

The Batjet quickly landed and the cockpit opened. Batman and Ifrit unhooked their safety harness and leapt out, both landing gracefully together on the roof. As soon as they touched ground, a blur of red zoomed right up at them and stopped just at the last foot from them.

"WELCOME!" shouted an over-ecstatic redheaded girl, floating in the air and giving them her biggest, brightest smile.

"...Is she a Titan?" Ifrit asked.

"Yes, this is Starfire," Batman replied, keeping his cold passive exterior.

"...Is it still too late to say I want to stay in Gotham?" Ifrit said, an edge of worry in his voice.

Starfire lost her smile and looked worriedly at them. "Did I do something wrong?"

"No, he's just not good with meeting people," Batman answered.

"Oh! In that case, let me be the first to welcome you here!" Starfire greeted, waving her arms and moving to the side.

Standing on the roof behind her...was every single member of Teen Titans.

Batman stared in amazement behind his mask at the huge welcoming group. "I see you went all out."

Starfire giggled. "We wanted the newest member of the Titans to meet everyone and feel welcomed in our team."

Robin walked over to them to greet. "Been awhile, hasn't it?"

"Things have been different since you left, Robin...but I see you've done fine on your own," Batman stated plainly.

Robin smirked at him, shaking his head. "Yeah, and I see some things never change." He brought his gaze over to the teen standing next to his mentor and father-like figure. "Hey there! I'm Robin, leader of the Titans, nice to meet ya!"

Ifrit just stood silently and stared at him.

Robin sweat-dropped, but instead of taking offense, he took the moment to study the new member. To his slight annoyance, he was taller than him, almost as tall as Cyborg and was slightly board in built, but he had a lean look about him like his own. His attire was almost eastern looking, almost resembling that of a ninja. His pants were black and baggy, with red armored shin-guards, with red bandages underneath, wrapped around his shins down to his ankles and black combat scandals that left his toes exposed. On his upper body, he wore a black muscle shirt, a red hooded sweater with no sleeves; the hood was up and hiding his face in shadow. His forearms were covered by red gauntlets with black fingerless gloves that had red iron plating on the back palm, with black gems embedded over the knuckles.

Batman seeing the silence between the two took the initiative. "This is Ifrit."

Only after Batman spoke his name, did the mysterious teen step up and speak. "Greetings..."

Robin smiled at him and raised a hand. "Welcome to the Titans, Ifrit."

"That remains to be seen," Ifrit said stoically, walking right past Robin to examine the rest of the Titans for himself.

Robin gawked and looked up at Batman for an answer.

"He's been a loner for a long while. He's never really made any kind of connections," Batman said, nodding at Ifrit.

Robin grimaced at the news. "I see...so that's why you wanted him to join our team, right?"

Batman nodded.

Ifrit stuffed his hands into the pockets of his sweater as he studied the group. The first to catch his eyes was the tall teenager incased in silver and blue armor, then the green one that reminded him of a comical elf or imp. The rest were pretty interesting in their own but his eyes for some reason landed and locked on the person in the navy blue cloak. He instantly could tell the person was female as his nose alerted him to a female scent with a soft fragrance of lavender. Like him, though, she had her face concealed by a hood, but he could see her intellect, piercing eyes and the lower part of her jaw. There was something else about her that peeked his interest, something about her reminded him of himself, but what?

"It's rude to stare," the cloaked girl said roughly.

He nodded in apology. "No offensive, I was just trying to figure out something."

"Like what?" she said, tilting her head somewhat.

He took a step closer to her, forcing her to look up some as he was taller than her by a foot.

"Like...we share the same sadness," Ifrit stated with a monotone that reminded everyone of the very girl he was talking to.

Her mouth slightly parted as she gasped silently and the two gazed at each other in silence. That moment was ruined when Beast Boy darted right between the two and pointed at her.

"Ooooo! Raven's got a new boyfriend!" Beast Boy teased, giggling hysterically.

His remarked caused a heavy blush to appear on her face and she looked away so her hood would completely shadow her face. Ifrit looked down at the fuzzy elf and from under his hood, twin lights of dark red appeared.

"You're annoying," Ifrit growled.

Raven found herself smirking at that, but she waited until she had complete control over herself before turning her head back to him.

"He's always like this, just ignore it, that's what I do," Raven said.

"I see," Ifrit said, taking her advise and looking over the green changeling and looking back at her.

"Dude! You're eyes glowed like Raven's!" yelled Beast Boy, now pointing at Ifrit's shadowed face.

The next thing Beast Boy knew was a pale leg raised up and kicked him right across the head, sending him flying. "Step two of handling Beast Boy, smack him."

"I'll remember that," Ifrit said, his eyes glowing more as he had watched Beast Boy fly and land just near the edge of the roof.

"Raven! That is not good advice to give a new member of the team to do to a fellow Titan!" Starfire abolished, zooming over to them.

Raven shrugged, and to Batman's shock, heard a soft chuckle from Ifrit.

"Raven, right?" Ifrit asked, taking on a more comfortable posture.

Raven nodded at him.

"Maybe being on this team won't be so bad, after all," Ifrit announced.

Raven had to hide the rest of her face, feeling it once more heat up. "Uh...y-yeah." She looked away. _'What the heck is wrong with me? I'm acting like...like Starfire! Gah!'_

She was saved from her embarrassing moment when Robin walked up to Ifrit. "All right, Ifrit, time to meet the team."

Ifrit nodded in acknowledgement and followed Robin over to the front of the entire group.

"We're split up in different sub-teams. This here is Titans West, our team members are myself, Starfire, Raven, Cyborg, and Beast Boy...who you just met."

"Indeed," Ifrit replied, glaring at the green changeling.

Beast Boy gulped and changed into a squirrel and ran to hide behind Cyborg.

"Ahem, the next team is Titans East, the team leader is Bumblebee. Her teammates are Speedy, Aqualad, Mas N Menos," Robin continued. "We just established two new teams, Titans North and South. Titans North consists of Argent, Jericho, Red Star, Wonder Girl, Killowat, and Wildebeest. Titans South members are Herald, Pantha, Hot Spot, Kole, Gnarrk, and Bushido." He walked over to three small children and four other teenagers. "These three are Melvin, Timmy, and Teether; Titans in training. And as for these two...our more unpredictable members: Thunder and Lightning. This is Jinx and Kid Flash, they're our back-up support in case any of the teams need extra power."

Ifrit regarded all of them with a critical eye, then asked. "Which team do you plan on placing me in?"

Robin adorned a mischievous smirk. "That's what we're gonna find out. We thought of a way to get to know your skills and to see just which team you would do well on."

Raven approached him. "We're going to hold a preliminary fight to test your abilities. You will be fighting each team, except the junior Titans and Thunder and Lightning. They'll act as judges and referee along with the rest of us who be waiting to fight."

"If that is the case, then where will we have this preliminary fight?" Ifrit questioned.

"On the training field just behind the tower," Robin said, jerking his thumb in that direction.

Ifrit followed his thumb and calmly walked over to the edge of the roof and gazed down at the training field. "Hmm, its adequate. Let's begin then." To everyone's shock, he took a step off the ledge and plummeted down off the roof.

They all, save for Batman, rushed over to the edge and saw the teenager fall fast to the ground, then as he neared the ground, he somewhat angled himself so he could touch the tower wall with his feet. As soon as they made contact, he started running down the side and kicked off the wall, and then rolled in the air and onto the ground and skidded to a long halt on the dusty ground, leaving a large trail of dust behind him.

Cyborg whistled. "Man's got skills."

Robin smirked down at Ifrit. "This is gonna be interesting." He glanced up at the Titans. "Okay, let's go show the new guy our stuff!" Then pulled out his grappling hook and jumped off the roof, using the grappling hook to swing down safely to the training field.

The Titans that could fly flew down to join Robin, the rest that couldn't make the jump wisely chose the stairs. Batman himself descended down the tower in the same manner as his ex-partner had, waiting for the rest of the Titans to arrive. He was very curious to see their fighting prowess and just how well Ifrit would deal with them in a combat situation.

Ifrit waited patiently for them to arrive, his hands stuffed in his sweater's pockets. "May I make a suggestion?"

Robin nodded. "Sure, what?"

"That you have two teams attack me. It would save time for us all," Ifrit said calmly.

All the Titans blinked at Ifrit curiously.

"Umm, dude. That would put you in a deep disadvantage," Beast Boy said, scratching the back of his head.

Ifrit shrugged. "If I cannot fend off two teams, then I won't waste any of your time being on this team."

Robin grimaced and looked to Batman for some advice.

Batman crossed his arms over his chest and nodded at Ifrit. "Do as he says."

Robin gawked at his mentor for a moment, then shrugged. "You heard him. Let's double-team him! Team North and South, you're up first!"

The two teams took their positions around Ifrit, Titans North standing on his left side while Titans South stood at his right. Ifrit calmly stood where he was, looking completely relaxed. Robin moved to the edge of the field and raised his hand up high.

"Ready…GO!" shouted Robin and quickly jumped back.

Both teams simultaneously moved and readied their unique attacks. Ifrit remained stock still until the close range fighters got near enough, and then whipped out his hands and threw six small grey pellets down on the ground around him. Black smoke immediately erupted around him and covered most of the field around him, taking the close-range fighters by surprise and covering them in the blanket of smoke. A moment later everyone who wasn't in the smoke heard groans and yelps of pain, then more smoke pellets darted out of the bank of smoke and covered the long-ranged fighters, and soon they too cried out in pain before silence settled over the training field.

"What happened? Kid Flash, blow that smoke away!" Robin shouted.

Kid Flash gave him a small salute. "You got it!" He then began to rotate his arms in rapid small circles in front of him and create two strong gusts of wind, blowing away the black smoke away.

When the smoke cleared away, the remaining Titans gasped.

Every member of Titans North and South were stacked in a pile, unconscious or looking dizzy and moaning some. On top of the pile of Titans was Ifrit, sitting on Pantha's back with his chin in his hand and drumming his fingers over his left cheek.

"Time?" Ifrit asked.

Batman, who had a time-watch, timing the moment Ifrit created the smokescreen, glanced at it. "forty-six point nine seconds."

"…I'm still too slow," Ifrit groaned, leaping off Pantha's back.

"T-Too slow!" Beast Boy uttered in shock. "Dude, that was quick!"

"Maybe for you," Kid Flash said with a cocky smirk.

Ifrit shrugged. "If I had mastered that completely, it would have only taken half that time."

Robin gawked at Ifrit and then looked at a slightly smirking Batman. "Where did you find him?"

"That'll have to wait," Batman replied.

Ifrit helped the pile of Titans get off each other and even carried some of the ones that were still knocked out over to the sidelines.

"I cannot believe I was defeated so easily…" Wonder Girl groaned depressively.

"You got that right, I felt like a noob just then," Argent committed, rubbing the back of her head where she had been struck. "Those knuckles of his hurt!" She looked at the other Titans who were up to fight. "Get 'im back for us!"

Jinx smirked and sauntered up to the training field with Kid Flash by her side. "How about you try your _luck_ with just us two this time?"

Ifrit tilted his head and shrugged, stuffing his hands back into his pockets. "Sure, but don't underestimate me, please. That'll be a big a mistake."

"I think that's what I should say to you," Jinx grinned, taking on a dancing pose with her arms fanned out.

Kid Flash took that moment to do a few cardio stretches and smiled widely at Ifrit. "Don't be too disappointed when we beat you!"

Ifrit remained silent but those dots of red light appeared from under his hood. The two felt a chill of fear run up their spines. Steeling themselves, they waited for Robin to give the signal to start. Robin, gulping as he rose his hand again and shouted for them to begin. Kid Flash wasted not a single second when the hand fail and speeded over to the hooded teenager at full speed. Ifrit had just pulled his hands out with more smoke pellets when Kid Flash snatched them from him.

"Nuh-ah! Can't have you use the same trick, twice!" Kid Flash said, waving a disapproving finger at him.

Before Ifrit could do anything else, he leapt out of the way as hex energy ripped over the spot he just occupied.

"Don't forget about me, tall, dark, and strange!" Jinx teased, spinning on her left foot as she launched another wave of hex energy at Ifrit.

The hooded teen looked about to dodge but then smoke erupted around him, courtesy of Kid Flash using Ifrit's own smoke pellets on him. The smoke covered him just as the hex energy got him, but was covered before anyone could see what had happened to him, save for a faint glow of red in the smoke and a cry of pain. When the smoke cleared, Jinx gasped in panic as Kid Flash was lying in a pit of rumble where her hex powers had crumbled the rock and dirt under him.

"Flash!" cried Jinx worriedly, just before she felt a wave of heat behind her. She turned around slowly and looked…right into the shadowed face of Ifrit, red dots of light blazing brighter.

"As I said…don't underestimate me," Ifrit whispered.

Jinx had no time to stop the fist that suddenly slammed into her gut, knocking the air out of her lungs and forcing her to pass out, and then caught her before she fell down hard on the ground. Like the others, he carried her over to the sidelines where Herald and Jericho took her from him, then went back to carry Kid Flash off the field.

Robin murmured silently to himself, rubbing his chin in thought, and then glanced over at Raven. "Did he just teleport?"

"Yeah, he did. When the smoke got him, he used that moment to replace himself with Kid Flash, then again to get behind Jinx," Raven surmised what he was thinking. "…The way he's dressed should have given us a good hint to his abilities."

"Yeah, someone trained him in the Ninja Arts," Robin said, feeling his heart beat in excitement.

"Something worries me, though," Raven suddenly added, looking intensely at Ifrit.

"What's that?"

"His name…" Raven replied worriedly.

"What about his name?" Robin asked, curious to why that would make Raven nervous.

"Ifrit is also a short, modern version of 'Afreet', a djinn in Arabic and Islamic mythology but some say it's the name of a fire type of…_demon_," Raven revealed, feeling anxious the more she watched the teenager.

"That is correct," Ifrit spoke up, hearing their conversation. "My name was given to me because of a unique power that I was born with…and cursed with."

Robin, wanting to get a more information about his skills before his team took on the hooded teen, asked him. "What power, and why do you call it a curse?"

Ifrit reached out a hand above his head. "Best I show you…"

He opened his palm and a spark of red fire ignited in his hand and formed into a large fireball the size of a basketball. "I can create and control fire…and a bit more, but you'll have to find that out on your own, as you can imagine."

He had expected the rest of the Titans to get intimated, but to their merit, they all smirked. Robin cracked his knuckles as he strolled over with his team.

"Nothing we're not already used to facing," Robin said, reaching behind him and drawing his Bo Staff, extending it to its combat length.

Titans West and East took their place around Robin and smiled confidentially as they readied to fight. Ifrit enlarged his fireball twice its original size in challenge.

"Titans, GO!" Robin shouted, launching himself at Ifrit.

Ifrit threw the fireball. Starfire fired a few starbolts to canceled out the fireball that was aimed at Robin, letting him continue his assault safely. He swung his Bo Staff at Ifrit, who brought up his right gauntlet to block the blow, groaning some as the attack had more force behind it than he expected. Not letting that discourage him, he quickly wrapped the arm he used to block the weapon around it, locking it under his arm and used a palm strike to Robin's chest, knocking him back and dazed. Ifrit leapt back instead of continuing his attack when a green gorilla almost slammed its giant fists down on top of him, smashing the rocks easily where he had stood. Using the acquired weapon from Robin, he brought it up skillfully, spinning around Beast Boy and sticking the Bo Staff under his legs, then with a loud grunt, used his momentum to throw the green changeling off balance as he forced his legs to bend.

Ifrit finished it up by balling up his fist and slamming it down over Beast Boy's head, but a metallic hand wrapped around his wrist and wrenched him away and sending him rolling roughly. He started to roll back to his feet when he ducked down just in time to miss being hit by an arrow. Glancing up, he saw Speedy notching two more arrows and taking aim. He also saw Bumblebee raise her electric stingers and fired a few short bursts at him. Without the smoke, everyone saw him enveloped in red flames as he teleported away and reappear behind the two, and then teleported again when a tunnel of water nearly slammed into him from behind. He appeared just at the edge of the field, eyeing Aqualad as the biggest threat to him as his water would be a problem for his powers.

Speedy re-aimed and fired off his two arrows, both of him having been stun-arrows. What he didn't expect was for Ifrit to snatch them both out of the air without looking. "If you haven't listened to Robin…you know I've been trained in the Shinobi arts!"

"Shinobi?" Beast Boy uttered, looking confused.

"That's the Japanese term for ninja," Raven grunted, rolling her eyes.

"Oh! R-Right, I knew that!" Beast Boy said hastily, looking away nervously so she didn't see his embarrassed face.

Ifrit squeezed his fist around the arrows and they burst into flames, reducing them to ash in seconds. He teleported again but this time appeared right in front of Speedy and lifted his right leg up, kicking the archer in the ribs then followed with a downward strike with his left fist over his head, knocking him out, then grunted loudly when two small blurs struck him from behind, falling down next to the unconscious archer. Those small blurs were over him once again and bombarded him with small fists and kicks around him. Ifrit curled up into a tight ball to try and defend himself from the miniature speedsters, or that's what they thought he was doing. Ifrit let out a thunderous roar and the twins were struck by an intense wave of heat that emitted from Ifrit's body, forcing their hands to separate. Ifrit was back on his feet in moments and attacked Mas, and was surprised when the little guy didn't use his speed to dodge his punch. His fist connected to Mas's face, knocking the poor little guy out.

"Mas!" shouted out in panic Menos for his twin brother.

He stumbled over to his unconscious twin and shook him. When he saw he wouldn't wake up, Menos pointed and started yelling angrily at Ifrit rapidly in Spanish.

Ifrit just stood there, looking confused. "…Er, I'm sorry?" Then popped Menos over the head, knocking him out beside his twin brother.

He turned his attention to the remaining Titans and locked his full attention on Aqualad who had positioned himself close to the shore since the start of the fight. Ifrit rolled his neck and a loud pop came from it. Seeing the challenging posture, Aqualad summoned up another funnel of water and sent it blasting in Ifrit's direction. He was about to teleport out of the water's way again when Bumblebee snuck up behind him, having shrunk in size then re-enlarged herself and shocked him with her stingers.

"Thought you ninja guys never let anyone get behind you?" Bumblebee smirked, then darted out of the way.

The funnel crashed into Ifrit, too stunned by Bumblebee's stingers to move, and sent sailing with the water until it stopped, leaving him coughing and shaking slightly.

"I think this match is set and done!" Bumblebee declared, zooming over and gave Aqualad a high-five.

"I think you're right," Robin said, lowering his guard.

"Don't count on it," Batman warned.

"Huh?" Robin uttered, then froze in fear when a wave of anger wash over the whole area.

Flames licked out of the red light under Ifrit's hood as he slowly stood up, his body surrounded by a red glow. The water on him and around him began to steam as the air started to heat up. He clenched his fists and red flames began to flicker around them then burst into huge orbs of fire.

"Don't take this personal…but it's time I showed you what I really can do," Ifrit growled, his eyes a mass of red fire.

He launched himself straight at Aqualad, slamming his hands together as he spun in midair and formed a tunnel of fire around himself as he roared out and struck Aqualad in the center of his chest, knocking the teenage Atlantean right into the sea. When he rose up, his face was turned up and staring up at the sky with a dizzy expression and steam rising off him.

Bumblebee gasped and turned away to go help Aqualad, but then realized her mistake when Ifrit appeared right behind her. "You should have remembered your own words…" He struck the back of her neck with a hand-chop.

Ifrit turned to the remaining Titans and cracked his own knuckles. "Ready?"

Robin drew out a birdarang and gestured with his hand for Ifrit to come at him. "Bring it!"

Ifrit darted toward the last team of Titans, slamming his fiery right hand into the ground and ripping the dry earth up as he ran toward them, leaving a trail of dust and smoke behind him. They parted out of his way as he zoomed right between them, then flipped to a halt and fired two fireballs behind him on either said of the dusty wall he created. The fireballs blasted the ground and kicked up rocks and more dust. Using the distraction, he turned to finish them off, but then ducked to keep from getting hit over the face by a green, glowing fist. He pivoted to the side to dodge a purple boot and grabbed Starfire's ankle.

"I must warn you. I am stronger than I look!" Starfire stated pleasantly.

Ifrit gripped her ankle, surprising the alien princess that his grip was like metal.

"So am I," Ifrit replied and grappled her around him and forced her to land hard on the terrain.

Just as he was going to knock her out as he had the other Titans, he used the hand he had readied to use to catch Cyborg's swinging fist.

"Ah hell…" Cyborg groaned, finding he couldn't move his arm from the hood teenager's grip.

"Sorry," Ifrit said just before he yanked Cyborg toward him and delivered an elbow strike to the human side of his head.

Starfire had recovered and her eyes blazed emerald. Ifrit caught the sight just out of the corner of his own and ducked, forming a fireball in his free hand and firing it at her. She barely had time to use her eyebeams to stop the fireball from hitting her, leaving her vision blinded by the flash of the disbursing fireball, but then her vision was instantly filled by Cyborg's broad back as it landed right on top of her.

"Oompf!" Starfire groaned from under the metallic Titan.

Ifrit scanned the area, seeing Robin and Beast Boy tag-teaming. Beast Boy changed into a triceratops with Robin on his back, pulling out another Bo Staff, throwing his birdarang at him. Ifrit caught the weapon easily but then cursed silently when it beeped before producing a blinding light. He shielded his eyes with his arm and hood, but that cost him as he was scooped up by Beast Boy's horns, but started holding on as best he could around one of the larger horns to keep from falling and being trampled. Robin readied to strike him off with the Bo Staff, but as he sat up to get a better angle to swing, Ifrit swung his heel and rammed it right in Beast Boy's left eye. Not expecting the attack, Beast Boy flinched and swung his head wildly out of instinct, throwing Ifrit off and knocking Robin off his back. He morphed back into his human form and cradled his blackened eye.

"DUDE! THAT HURT!" Beast Boy said, right before he opened his one good eye to see black-gem knuckles punch him.

As the changeling collapsed with two black eyes, Ifrit drew his attention to Robin as he picked himself up.

"A bit rough and dirty, but that was a good move," Robin complimented.

Ifrit nodded and fell into a fighting pose that Robin was unfamiliar with. He bent down forward and curled in his limbs, like he was coiling them as a feline would do before it moved.

"What's that style?" Robin asked.

"If you can land a blow on me…I'll teach it to you," Ifrit replied, closing his hands into fists as fire flickered around them once more.

Robin smiled at the challenged as he put away his Bo Staff and fell into his own fighting stance. The two stared off for a moment, gauging the other for any sign of an opening. Then at the same time they both rushed each other. Robin came in high, leaping up and aiming a spinning kick at Ifrit's head. Ifrit bent down more, ducking the kick and was about to grapple the leg when he brought both his gauntlets up to block the second kick that Robin shot at him, then kicked off his arms, flipping back and landing on his feet and crouching down low and darted up into Ifrit's defense and ramming his palm at his chin. Ifrit bent backwards to avoid the strike, throwing his arms back as he flipped and wrapped his legs around Robin's waist as his body bent back in a flip.

"What the?" Robin muttered right before he was lifted off the ground and was carried head first at the patch of ground quickly coming toward his face.

The move was stopped when Ifrit was struck by a rock encased in black energy, making him lose his momentum and topple down with Robin. Ifrit quickly pushed off the ground, standing on all fours and kicked Robin away from him, and then looked around. The dust on the field had finally settled, revealing Raven with two large boulders floating beside her, her eyes glowing white.

"Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos!" Raven chanted as she waved her arms forward and the two boulders were sent flying right at him.

They came at him fast and he reacted on instinct, planting his feet into the ground and braced himself as the boulders rushed toward him. When they were about to crash into him, he raised his right hand up as fire flickered from it and formed into a long, narrow length. It glowed a darker red before it started to solidify and a stone sword in the shape of a broadsword took form in his hand. With the new weapon, he sliced through the boulders four times in quick rapid swings, letting them fly harmlessly around him.

"A telekinetic, hmm? Never fought one before," Ifrit said, wrapping both hands around the hilt of his sword.

"And I've never seen someone make solid objects out of fire," Raven retorted. "That's a pretty nice ability."

For a moment, his posture relaxed, as if he was startled by her statement. "…That's the first."

She pulled up another rock from the ground and let it hover over her head. "What is?"

"You're the first to call my cursed ability…nice," Ifrit claimed.

Even in the moment, Raven felt her face heat up some. She faltered for a moment to try and shake the feeling off. Ifrit saw the opening and was about to take it, but something stopped him from taking that advantage on her. His moment of honor cost him dearly though, as Robin had recovered and came up beside him and landed a roundhouse kick over his head. He collapsed to the ground, dropping his sword and groaning slightly from the dizziness growing in his head. He then felt the blunt end of Robin's Bo Staff touch his throat.

"This preliminary fight is over," Robin stated, smirking down at Ifrit.

Ifrit groaned and muttered at himself for letting his guard down, but he conceded and relaxed. Robin smiled and extended his hand down for him to take. Hesitantly, Ifrit took it and Robin helped him back to his feet.

"You're really good, Ifrit. I think you'd be a great addition to the Teen Titans," Robin applauded, shaking his hand.

Ifrit returned the shake stiffly then pulled his hand back quickly. "...If you think my skills would benefit your team, I'd like to try."

"Anybody who can hold his own against all of us the way you did is perfect for us," Robin stated, crossing his arms over his chest and smiling.

"Hmm, then I guess I'll give it a shot," Ifrit said.

Applause erupted from behind him and he twisted around to see every member awake and smiling, clapping and cheering at him. Feeling slightly embarrassed, he stared at the ground and rubbed his neck.

Robin reached into his pocket and handed Ifrit his official T-Com. "Welcome to the team."

Ifrit took the communicator silently and nodded.

The cheers became louder.

"All right, then. Since you've officially joined, let's figure out which team you will be placed in," Robin said, and started to walk toward the tower when he was stopped by Batman.

"Put him in your team, Robin," Batman said.

"I agree…" Raven added, then gawked at herself for what she just said. _'…Why did I just say that?'_

Ifrit turned to Raven and couldn't help by feel a bit glad she wanted him on the same team as herself.

Robin looked over to her. "What makes you agree, too, Raven?"

"…Titans East already have a well-rounded team, and once Jinx and Kid Flash finally decide to join them, then they'll be fine. The other two teams are still new and they already have quite a few members and need to work on their teamwork more. If we add Ifrit into either one of them, that'll be one too many to handle. Besides…we haven't really had anyone stick on our main team since Terra," Raven answered, thinking on her feet, as she really didn't know the reason she wanted Ifrit on the team…just that she wanted him on it.

"And if I might add…it would be easier for me to teach you my fighting style," Ifrit said, turning to Robin. "I can't really do a good job of that if I'm not here, can I?"

That clinched it for Robin. He was always willing to learn a new fighting style to add to his own, and from what he saw of Ifrit's, it looked very handy to have.

"All right, I'm convinced. Ifrit, you'll stay here with us in Jump City," Robin said.

Ifrit glanced at Raven for a second, then back to Robin and nodded.

"Aww, would have been interesting if you had joined Titans North," Argent committed, winking at Ifrit.

"Er, t-that's okay…" Ifrit said quickly and stuffed his hands into his pocket and looked away shyly.

Argent giggled at his expense and blew him a kiss. "Ah, don't gotta be shy around me, Ifrit."

He kept silent and focused on a pebble on the ground that looked really interesting to him at that moment. Raven didn't realize she had started to glare at Argent, until she felt she had clinched her jaw slightly.

"Anyway, we need to show Ifrit around his new home," Raven said curtly, walking right between the two.

Ifrit eagerly took the excuse to leave and followed behind Raven toward the tower.

Batman started to follow them when a beeping sound alerted him to an in-coming transmission. He touched the side of his cowl where his ear would be and pressed the hidden earpiece located there. "Batman here."

"Batman! Need you back in Gotham, like now! Joker's at it again and he's turning the Bank into a warped funhouse thanks to that laughing gas of his," came Batgirl's alarmed voice through his earpiece.

"I'm on my way!" Batman said, then pulled out his grappling hook. "Sorry to cut this short, but I need to get back to Gotham now. We'll talk later, Robin…Ifrit, try to be mindful of your powers."

With that said, he aimed his grappling hook at the top of the tower and pressed the retract button and dashed up to the roof, then a moment later, they all heard the Batjet's engines roar and it took off soaring into the sky.

"What did he mean, be mindful of your powers?" Robin inquired, raising a curious eyebrow.

Ifrit grimaced, tightening his fists in his pockets. "…I can't always keep my powers under control."

"You can't control them?" Raven said, eying him knowingly.

"For the most part, I can," Ifrit replied, and then lowered his head. "But they get out of control when I let my anger get a hold of me. You see, the more rage I build, the stronger my powers become, but if I get too angry, the rage takes over me and I begin to set everything aflame…" He hadn't wished to reveal this weakness to them, not this soon.

"Wow, sounds just like what Raven has to deal with," Beast Boy blurted out.

"What'd you mean?" Ifrit asked, his eyes shifting over to the dark girl.

"…My powers work in the similar way, only it's all of my emotions," Raven replied, glaring at Beast Boy in annoyance. She wasn't ashamed as she was once about not being able to express herself like all her friends, but it greatly annoyed her when Beast Boy let that bit of knowledge slip out, especially to someone she just met. _'And think is hot…what the? Where'd that come from?'_

As if detecting her mood, Ifrit nodded to her. "Maybe you can help me with some techniques to help me control my rage?"

Her stomach fluttered all of a sudden. "Um, s-sure…" She really wanted to get away from him, not because he made her feel threatened, but his presence was making her react way too emotionally, like…like when she first saw Aqualad. _'Damn teenage hormones…'_

She was about to make her way to her room to meditate to get a better handle over herself, when Robin stopped her with a hand on her shoulder.

"Well, that's great! Raven, why don't you show him around the tower, huh?" Robin suggested, patting her shoulder, then lean down to whisper. "Please…I promised Star we'd go out to see a movie tonight."

Raven narrowed her eyes at his hand before sighing somewhat. "Fine…but you owe me."

"Thanks!" Robin whispered, then looked up and gave Starfire a thumbs-up, who cheered and clapped her hands excitedly.

Ifrit regarded their actions quite odd, but he chalked it up as 'normal' teenage behavior. But he could easily tell Raven wasn't too excited about her appointed task.

"If she does not wish to, then perhaps someone else is free to show me your tower," Ifrit offered, hoping to make things easier for Raven.

She groaned inwardly and realized she must have giving him a bad impression. "No, I better be the one...If Beast Boy or Cyborg showed you around, they'd never get past their rooms or the Vehicle Bay."

Both said Titans blushed and looked away.

Ifrit shrugged and stuffed his hands back into his sweater's pockets. "...Let me go get my bags, I'm sure Batman left them on the roof."

"I'll get those for you, man!" Cyborg said, giving him a thumbs up. "I'll deal with finding a room for you and getting it set up."

Ifrit stiffened for a moment. "...Please refrain from opening my bags. If you can just pick a room for me, I will handle my things."

Cyborg raised an eyebrow. "...Sure, man. I'll just put them on your bed."

"Thanks..." Ifrit said shortly and started walking toward the tower before stopping. "...Where shall we start, Raven?"

Raven floated over to him. "Bottom, up. Might as well since we're down here."

She led him into the main lobby and began the tour. Robin dropped his smile and glanced at the rest of the Titans.

"What do you think of him?" he asked them all.

"Hard to tell. The guy's got some issues but nothing unlike what we're used to dealing with Raven," Cyborg commented.

"The dude's got a mean right hook! Look at my face!" Beast Boy shouted, pointing at his blackened eyes.

"He is very cautious in nature...I feel we should try and befriend him as best we can," Starfire said.

Robin rubbed his chin in thought. "I'm a bit worried about his powers. If he loses control when he gets mad, that could prove too much of a liability."

"So what?" Jinx grunted, shrugging her shoulders and started sauntering away. "My powers are unstable but you guys don't seem to care in the least. Also, Raven's got the same issue but your tower is still in one piece, so give the guy a break."

"Yeah, he seems to be very sensitive about that fact, so he probably isn't going to let them get out of hand so easily," Kid Flash added. "He just needs a little help, that's all."

Robin hummed to himself for moment, then smiled and clasped his hands on his hips. "All right. We'll see what happens!"

* * *

**A/N:** Yes, I've changed Ifrit up a bit from this original self, but after looking at it, I made him a bit too much like Raven in appearance and wanted to give him his own unique look and style. Yes, I made him a ninja of sorts, but I do have a very good reason for that...but I'm too lazy right now to explain or leave a hint as to what...heh. Let me know how to like the new Ifrit and maybe some suggestions to go with it, hmm?

_Till then..._


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer**: No I don't own Teen Titans or Batman; both are the rightful property of DC Comics and Cartoon Network. Only rights pertaining to this story is the plot and original character: Ifrit.

**A/N: **I have nothing to say at the moment.

* * *

**Getting to know you**

Raven led their newest member from the main lobby up to each level and explained each purpose they served until they reached the top floor, ending in the Common Room. During the tour, Ifrit had asked why the tower was designed the way it was and Raven answered simply 'symbolism'.

"Please explain," Ifrit had asked when he didn't quite understand her meaning.

"When people see the tower they will quickly know who we are and just what we are here for," Raven replied, heading to the kitchen to fix herself some herbal tea. Since she could not mediate and she found her time with the ninja was making her feel uncertain in ways she hadn't in anyone. It wasn't a bad feeling, that much she could tell, but it was still unsettling for a person like her who has always kept her feelings suppressed. The tea would give her some relief until she could get some time to herself to mediate and ponder on this uncertainty she was experiencing around him.

She quickly began making her tea and started pulling out her favorite one, when Ifrit walked right up behind her and reached into the cupboard and grabbed the one her hand was just about to grab. This brought him very close to her and his chest briefly brushed against her right shoulder, eliciting in a sudden warm rush throughout her body.

Ifrit mustn't had noticed as he quickly backed away with the tea in his hand and glanced at it. "Hmm, you like herbal tea?" Then walked over to the kettle and began filling it up with water.

"Umm, y-yeah," Raven replied, standing very still and blushing madly underneath her hood.

She turned around and stared in wonder when she saw he was holding the kettle in the palm of his hand and very quickly steam began whistling out. He put the kettle down on the oven and glanced at her.

"Could you bring two cups?" Ifrit asked politely.

"Oh-h!" Raven quickly fetched the cups and handed them to Ifrit, still a bit taken that he had wordlessly made the tea for her.

Nodding to her, he poured the hot water in the cups and took out two teabags from their box and placed them in the cups, dipping them a few times then discarded the wet teabags and handed Raven her tea.

She thanked him and took a sip from hers, eyes widen up as she found it was the perfect temperature she liked her tea to be. "…So you like tea…oh my…"

Her sentence had died when she saw him pull his hood off to reveal a head full of jet-black hair with dark red highlights; bangs were short, slightly spiky and quite messy. Trailing down to his face revealed grey skin that almost reminded her of her own, only slightly darker, like the color of ash. She saw he wore a black mask, this one hid his lower face, but he had reached up and pulled this down to expose a strong, squared face with high cheekbones and a slightly narrow chin and expressed no emotion at all. That was until she looked into his eyes. His eyes were like melting pools of orange with a ring of crimson red around the iris that gave them a menacing appearance. In them, she could see a strong rage that was nearly boiling in them, and yet she could see a deep sorrow in his haunting eyes. Her brief look of his eyes was halted when he closed them as he took a small sip from his cup and sighed in content. When his eyes opened, they flashed with relief before the rage slowly started creeping back around them.

"I find it helps calm me down when I'm under great stress," Ifrit answered her before taking another sip.

"Me, too," Raven said meekly, feeling her heart pounding against her ribcage.

He glanced at her and put his cup down. "Are you all right? You're body's temperature suddenly increased."

"Y-You can sense body heat?" Raven said, feeling really embarrassed and hoping he didn't realize why her body had.

"Not surprising, really. Anyone who trains themselves with powers like mine could learn to detect heat signatures," Ifrit replied, shrugging his broad shoulders. "It has helped me detect people when they hide."

"Can you tell more from their heat signatures?" Raven asked curiously, trying to keep the embarrassment from reaching her voice.

"For the most part, I can tell when someone is lying to me or troubled by something, or plans to attack me," Ifrit said dryly. "…Are you troubled by something?"

_'…More like someone…but I'm not sure if that's a bad thing,'_ Raven thought, shaking her head. "No, I'm not troubled."

"You lied," Ifrit stated bluntly, eyeing her with narrowed eyes.

"So you _can_ detect lies," Raven said, smirking faintly. "Robin would kill for a skill like that."

"If he is anything like his teacher, I imagine so," Ifrit replied, knowing full well she wanted to change the subject. He guessed he had done something to disturb the girl, something he was used to from everyone…

Seeing he wasn't going to bring up the touchy subject, she sighed inwardly in relief. Feeling she was safe around him again, she added. "Robin is almost his perfect clone, the only thing that separates the two are their individual ideals."

"Hmm, which is what I'm assuming led to Robin leaving his mentor…" Ifrit deduced as a faraway look crossed over his blank face.

Noticing the sudden change, Raven said, "Is something a matter?"

"Hmm?" his face quickly shifted back to its blank, unreadable state. "…Just remembering my own mentors."

"Were they ninjas like you?" Raven asked.

"One of them was…I had a few others, but the one that trained me in the art of ninjutsu was probably the only one I could say I had the closest thing of a bond," Ifrit said, taking another sip of his tea. "My other mentors were, well they're not important right now."

This rose some questions in her mind, but could tell these were very touchy subjects for him, and as she didn't want to reveal her reason for being so flustered around him, she left his alone in respect.

"…So, about the one that taught you ninjutsu, what was he like?" Raven asked, genuinely curious about him.

"The closest thing I could say about him was that he was a total slave driver," Ifrit said flatly. "The man nearly broke all my bones twice, came close to killing me under a number of times, and other things that could have been considered inhumane."

Raven stared him in shock. "W-Why would you like this guy more than your other mentors…he sounds like a sadist."

She almost missed it but she saw a very faint smirk at the edge of his lips. "Because he believed in me. He only did all that he did to me because he knew I could take it and keep pushing myself beyond normal limits. Everything he did to me, I thanked him. Each lesson he gave me I worked twice as hard to pay him back for trusting me with his knowledge and training a homeless, lost boy."

_'Homeless? He's an orphan…'_ Raven thought sadly.

"He didn't care where I was from or who I was. All he cared for was if I could handle being a ninja, and I proved him I could," Ifrit continued, focusing on the tea in his cup. "Of all the students he had, he said I was the only one that took it serious enough, for which I'll always do my best to live up to his praise. He wasn't one to give praise to anyone, but when he did, it meant the world to me…"

"I had mentors myself…back in my home dimension on Azarath," Raven admitted before she realized she had just given him some personal information of herself. She hadn't meant to, it just slipped out of her mouth. She chalked it up on the weird feeling she got around him, making her unfocused and not quite her usual self.

"Another dimension? I never imagined meeting someone who came from another reality, or someone quite as interesting as you for that matter," Ifrit said, glancing at her and that faint smirk grew a fraction more.

Raven felt her face heat up, forcing her to look away and thank her lucky starts she was still wearing her hood. "T-Thanks."

Ifrit was about to say something more but then sensed people approaching and quickly put his mask and hood back on, hiding his face once again in darkness. Raven wondered why he hid his face when she spotted Beast Boy, sporting ice packs over both eyes and Cyborg gently leading him to the couch in the Common Room.

"Man, he didn't have to give me two black eyes!" Beast Boy moaned, flopping down on the couch once Cyborg told him he had reached it.

"Be lucky that was all he did to you," Cyborg said, rubbing his sore head. "He nearly took my head off with that blow he gave me! I think I might need to check myself to make sure he didn't break anything."

Coming up behind him from the hallway was Speedy and Aqualad.

"Try almost being fried like a fish, it isn't fun," Aqualad grumbled.

"Hey, the guy fended off all of us, I say we were lucky he didn't do worse," Speedy commented, before his sharp eyes spotted the ninja sitting next to Raven.

"What, he could have done worse?" Beast Boy quivered in fright.

"Dude, he's a ninja. Don't you watch Naruto?" Cyborg said.

"What does fishcakes have to do with ninjas?" Ifrit asked up after hearing Cyborg.

"Fishcakes? Where the heck did that come from?" Cyborg gawked at him, walking over to the table.

"Naruto means fishcake in Japanese…oh wait, unless you meant it's other meaning, maelstrom, correct?" Ifrit answered, putting his cup down.

"You know Japanese?" Raven said, looking at him.

"Hai," Ifrit replied with a short bow of his head.

"DUDE!" Beast Boy screamed, waving his arm wildly about. "Where were you when we were in Japan?"

"Uh…I apology?" Ifrit uttered, looking to Raven for help as he was thoroughly confused.

"Ignore him, he's just babbling. We had a mission in Japan…long story," Raven said, then finished off the last sip of her tea. "…How fluent are you?"

"Very fluent, my master taught me his language during our training," Ifrit replied.

"So you can watch anime without ever using subtitles, dude you rock!" Beast Boy cheered.

"Anime? I'm not familiar with that word," Ifrit said with a blank tone.

Raven sighed. "You shouldn't have said that…"

"Why?" Ifrit asked before he glanced at all the other titans and blinked.

All four boys were staring at him with pale, wide-eyed, horrified expressions.

"You've…" started Beast Boy.

"Never…" continued Cyborg.

"Heard…" added Aqualad.

"Of anime…" finished Speedy.

"How can you know Japanese and not anime!" Beast Boy screamed.

"…Master never brought that up, I guess," Ifrit said, starting to worry if actually joining this team of lunatics was worth it. "He only taught me what he believed was important, anything else was a waste of knowledge and time."

Raven had chosen that moment to move as far away as Ifrit as she could. She knew what was about to befall the poor new team member….

Four sets of arms reached out and grabbed a hold of the confused ninja and dragged him out of his seat and they carried him straight to the center of the room. The only reason Ifrit hadn't retaliated was because he wasn't exactly sure what to make of the situation. He was planted on the couch roughly and watched in somewhat amusement as the four boys scurried about the room, seeing three of them leave the room; two of them having to help Beast Boy from slamming his face into everything as he walked. Cyborg lowered the huge monitor from the ceiling and started up the entertainment system, then left to help the three boys do whatever it was they were going for. Ifrit glanced over at Raven and get even more worried when he saw her shaking her head slowly.

"Should I escape?" Ifrit asked.

"I wouldn't if I were you," Raven warned. "They'll track you down to the ends of the world for what they've got planned."

Ifrit gulped and wondered exactly what the four boys were planning on doing to him. Just as he was thinking about escaping the tower, the boys all came back into the room, each one of them carrying armloads of DVDs and started making a somewhat neat pile next to the entertainment system.

"Ah, yeah! Now we're ready!" Cyborg cheered, grabbing one of the DVD cases off the pile and getting it set up in a DVD player. "Now is the time to enlighten our new friend to the world of anime!"

"…Umm, don't I get a say?" Ifrit asked.

"NO!" shouted all four boys.

Ifrit flinched back in his seat. _'When I see Batman, I'm burning all his capes…maybe even the Batmobile's tires.'_

On the huge monitor, Ifrit watched as a night sky appeared on the screen and a monstrous fox with nine tails thrashing around it, then a equally huge toad with a blonde man standing on its head. As he listened to the narration, he was surprised to find himself liking it, especially as he learned it was about ninjas.

_'And another one is lost to the world of anime…'_ Raven groaned inwardly, but then lit up as she realized the boys just gave her an opportunity to go meditate. _'Okay…I'll give anime some credit. It's a good distraction.'_

Not wasting any time, she quietly left the boys to watch their anime and made her way to her bedroom. Once she was in the sanctuary of her room, she used her powers to set a few roles of candles and some of her favorite incense about in the room, lighting them all with a single thought, and soon settling down in the middle of the room, cross-legged and soon floating up three feet off the ground. She let the incense work its wonders and soothe her mind and calm her nerves. Soon her body relaxed and found her center and was at last fully in control of herself and her wayward emotions. Time hadn't mattered to her in this state as it was irrelevant, but when she began to pull back to the world around her, it was almost late into the evening.

As she stretched out her stiff muscles, her first thought was if Ifrit was still watching anime with the boys. At first, she reasoned that she was just curious to see how long he lasted, but then she started to realize she was giving herself an excuse to go look for him. Finally, she decided it was more to see how he was doing with the other titans and if he was still unsure of everything. She floated out of her room and made her way back to the Common Room.

What she found wasn't at all what she expected…

There in the center of the room, was Ifrit, with a pad of paper and all around him were piles of paper. His eyes were glued on the screen of the same anime Cyborg had put on and his hand was scribbling furiously over its surface.

"What the…?" Raven uttered.

"He's been like that since he started watching the anime," came Cyborg's voice behind her, walking around her with an armful of paper. "He asked us to give him some paper so he could take some notes…and one thing led to another and now we've got what you see."

"He's taking notes from watching anime?" Raven repeated, finding it very odd.

"When I asked him why, he said…"

"I said I could adapt some of this stuff into my own personal technique," answered Ifrit, without stopping his writing or taking his eyes off the screen. "I never thought to use Chakra to walk on walls or on water…I have to try it!"

Raven came over to the couch, giving him a worried look. "Uh…you do know that this is just an anime…most of the stuff they do on it can't be done in real life, right?"

Ifrit stopped his writing and turned his hooded head in her direction, then pointed at Cyborg. "He's half cybernetic." Then pointed at Beast Boy. "He can turn into any animal." Then pointed right at her. "You can move things with your mind. " Then pointed at himself. "I can make fire and turn it into stone…doesn't that sound impossible in its own right?"

Raven blinked very slowly at that and then back at the anime, then back at him. "…You know, you have a point."

"See, watching anime is good!" Beast Boy exclaimed.

"Only if you actually find useful information in it," Raven retorted curtly, then looked at one of the piles of paper Ifrit had written on. She glanced at it briefly and found she couldn't read any of it…as Ifrit had written everything in kanji.

"Great…the one thing I've yet to learn how to read," Raven groaned.

"If you wish, I can teach you kanji and how to speak Japanese," Ifrit suddenly offered, returning to taking notes.

"Y-You would?" Raven said in awe.

Ifrit shrugged. "It's not really that difficult, I found English a harder language to learn than Japanese."

Raven smiled under her hood and took a seat next to him, taking one of the pages off his piles of paper. "So what does this say?"

Ifrit stopped writing once more and took the paper from her hand. The two then began discussing the art of kanji and as they went along, Ifrit threw in some Japanese and translated their mean for her. The four boys, seeing they were deep in their discussion continued to watch their anime, then soon started getting ready for bed. It wasn't until Raven started yawning did she finally realize that it was getting late and that everyone had already gone off to bed.

"It's getting late," Raven stated, trying to stop a yawn that was creeping up again.

"Hmm? Oh, so it is," Ifrit said, looking at the time, then started working on stacking his notes better and straightening them into neater piles. "I better clean this up before finding a spot to sleep."

"What about your room?" Raven asked.

"Umm, Cyborg forgot to get it ready during his excitement to show me his anime," Ifrit replied, the shrugged. "It's fine, I guess I will camp in here on the couch."

"Here, I'll go get you some pillows and a blanket at least," Raven offered.

"Thank you, Raven…" Ifrit said with a slight softness in his voice.

Raven turned to hide the rosy color her pale cheeks had gotten as she went to retrieve some pillows and a blanket for him. She quickly returned and handed them to him as he finished the last pile of papers.

"Are you really going to try all this stuff?" Raven asked, eyeing all the paper.

"After I've tried a few things, and if I can pull them off, then I'll be able to pull off all of these," Ifrit said, waving lazily at the paper. "I admit, I'm eager to start on it now…but it has been a long day and that preliminary fight drained me more than I'd like to reveal." He began making the couch ready to sleep on.

"Be kinda cool if you could actually pull some of those off," Raven admitted quietly to herself.

Ifrit paused for a moment, smirking slightly under his mask, then started settling down for the night. "Thank you for all your help."

Raven smiled as she turned her head away and started floating to the exit, then stopped just at the door. "…I hope you like it here with us." Then she departed.

Ifrit laid down on the couch and pondered to himself as he started letting himself relax for the first time since he entered the tower. "…I think I will."

* * *

**A/N:** Before anyone asks or comments about what Ifrit is planning on doing, like the water-walking technique. Remember this…Brother Blood did it in the show. So who's to say others can't learn to do it in this TT-verse, hmm? Also keep an opened mind as you all know Ifrit and Raven, they're both half-demons, their very presence defies normal laws and boundaries and can open any possible route. I'm not saying that these two will become gods among mortals maybe if they live close to a million years, then one can see them being that powerful, but for now they're both still very young and growing into strong individuals, so please don't assume or waste my time and yours will stating I am, because I hate god-moding fanfics, at least the rushed ones. If someone is going to make a fic like that, than at least build it up throughout most of the story, lay the groundwork, the trials, the effort they had to go through to become something like gods. Anyway, that's enough from me for now. Please read and review and let me know think besides that one little thing I've asked you not to bother with.

_Till then…_


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer**: No I don't own Teen Titans or Batman; both are the rightful property of DC Comics and Cartoon Network. Only rights pertaining to this story is the plot and original character: Ifrit.

**A/N: ** This one goes to my biggest fan, _**Darklost**_ for giving her support…and getting me off my duff to get this fanfic on the roll. XD!

**xXx**

**Rising Wildfire**

Raven was the first to awaken the next morning, and surprisingly, before dawn. Usually she never woke up early in the morning, being more of a night person by nature. Figuring to take advantage of this time, she took a quick shower and changed into a clean outfit and began her morning meditation period for nearly an hour. Normally, it would be longer but she found herself unable to focus. She continued to try and mediate a little more but soon found herself getting stressed out some with trying to force it. Once she realized she may as well give up on meditating, she made her way to the kitchen to fix a light breakfast for herself. As she entered, she wasn't surprised to see the team leader and his now official girlfriend at the table, chatting away about whatever.

The redhead turned to her when she heard her footsteps. "Raven? What are you doing up this early?"

"…Don't know, just woke up and couldn't go back to sleep," she answered as she walked pass the happy couple and started fixing her morning tea.

Robin waited until his empathic friend had made her tea and took a few sips from it before he talked. "How did it go with Ifrit yesterday?"

"He seemed to be fine. A little withdrawn with things and seems to take everything in as a possible threat, but he seemed to start getting comfortable with things when the boys got him to watch their anime collection," Raven answered him after setting her teacup down on the table and taking a seat.

"About that…I heard he was actually taking notes from watching anime, is that true?" Robin asked, having heard from Cyborg what the new Titan had done.

"Yes…he did," Raven confirmed hesitantly.

Robin smirked. "Be kinda cool to see what he comes up with. If how he fights is anything to go by from just watching others, I can't wait to see more from his style." He rubbed chin in thought at all the new fighting styles he would soon be learning, and then started looking around. "Speaking of which, where is Ifrit?"

Raven glanced over at the couch, seeing it vacant. "No clue." She put her cup down and started leaving without realizing what she was doing. "I'll go look for him."

She didn't think about where to look for him. She just had a compulsion to head for the roof. It was like she just knew where to go, and as it turned out that compulsion she had proved true, as she found him sitting cross-legged near the edge of the roof, facing the rising sun. At first, she thought he was just sitting, watching the sun rise, but then she realized he was sitting perfectly still, too still.

'_Is he meditating?'_ she wondered to herself as she started to approach him.

Right at that same moment, the sun finally picked over from the horizon and the first rays of its light danced over the top of the tower. The moment it had, Ifrit opened his eyes and he teleported in a flash of fire. Startled greatly, Raven darted her gaze around until she spot a burst of fire high above the tower. Gazing up she saw him freefalling like a living bullet straight down at the roof. She started to panic some, wondering what was he thinking, but then he teleported again as he was five feet from hitting the roof face first, then a another burst of fire revealed his location at the side, having re-angled himself so the momentum from his fall shot him start across, as though he was flying now. He soared straight on and vanished from sight when he sailed over the edge of the tower, only to pop back up on the roof and preform a series of teleportation all over the roof, going faster and faster until he was a red blur everywhere.

She thought she was starting to see duplicates of him as his image was literally dancing around. Each one paused in a different position, giving the impression they were fighting one another in a huge brawl. This lasted for nearly ten minutes before the blurring stopped and Ifrit was standing still. His back was facing her and as the dawn's light fully shined over him, it left just a silhouette of darkness to her eyes. He moved like a living shadow fighting the surrounding light with quick series of punches and kicks all in a complicated sequence, as if warding off an enemy.

It looked like to her that he was actually trying to fight the light and would not give in to it. His shadowy frame guided with a fluid ease that she only seen Robin able to achieve, moving his body with exact precession when he struck out with volleys of rapid punches and kicks. Raven could only watch in awe at the ninja as he trained. She had seen Robin train a number of times in a somewhat similar fashion, but she could not get over how even in the light, he moved like a real shadow and defied the gleaming sun. He dove and flipped, twisting his body in practice formations as he spun and kicked up into the air, landing with a fist aimed at the ground, and then back up to pull off a somersault kick.

He whipped out a hand and a spiraling line of fire shot out of his hand and began to turn into a stone broadsword, then created another sword in his other hand. With the two swords he began dual-wielding them and slicing at his foe, where they seem to cut, a line of flames followed in the wake of the blade. After he finished a series of stances and attacks, those swords then turned back into fire and reformed in a staff after Ifrit slammed his hands together, and began spinning the staff around him, ducking and thrusting the blunt ends in rapidly directions. Then he started to slow down, and Raven thought he was about to stop, but then the staff exploded into flames and it shaped into a pair of kunais. He spun them in his hand by the ring at the end of the hilts once, and then clinched his hands tightly around the handles. His arms moved fast and the kunai in his hands were suddenly flying through the air. The speed the kunai flew at were so fast, Raven had no idea where they were, until Ifrit teleported in an instant and reappeared right in their trajectory where he caught them by the blades with just his fingers, stopping them dead before they would have impaled his chest.

It was at that moment that Ifrit turned to Raven. "Morning, Raven-san."

"Uh…hi to you, too," Raven replied, her eyes nearly bulging out of her eyes.

Ifrit twirled the kunais and then banished them with a flick of his wrists. "I'm used to training out in opened spaces, and I was not sure how your training facilities work yet."

"Ah," Raven managed to say as she tried to get her eyes to go back to their normal size and compose herself. "Well, everyone is waking up and probably have breakfast going soon. Thought you might want to join us."

"…I guess so," Ifrit answered softly.

"…You're really not much of a people person, are you?" Raven remarked instantly on seeing him start act distant again.

"No, I'm not," Ifrit replied bluntly.

A smirk rose up on her face. "Either am I. Just accept the food and nod here and there, and they usually leave you alone."

"Got it," Ifrit said quickly, then motioned with hand to lead the way.

The two headed back down to the kitchen, but as they walked, Raven decided to start up a conversation. "What were you doing with all that teleporting earlier? You were going so fast I couldn't really make much sense out of it."

"It's for the distortion," Ifrit answered.

Raven's eyes instantly lit up in understanding.

Seeing she did, he explained further. "I train my ability to teleport so that I can perform it multiple times and to train my senses to get over the distortion of moving from one point to another so instantly. I had quickly found when I could use it when I was younger that it put a great strain on my body and my senses would suffer greatly. I've worked on it since I understood this weakness so that I could adjust rapidly on the spot and so I can move from point to point in a heartbeat and keep going."

"I can teleport…to some degree, but not like how you do," Raven revealed, she didn't pause in her steps as she fell into her Soulself that she formed right underneath her and it darted through the walls and stairs, and then rose up at the door leading to the level the common room and kitchen were at.

Ifrit was instantly by her in a flash of fire. "That was really cool…"

Raven felt her face warm up some at the compliment. "Thanks…"

They walked the rest of the way to the kitchen, talking lightly some more, when they came upon a verbal fight breaking out at the stove.

"Dude! He'll want tofu, he's a ninja! He'll like the stuff!" Beast Boy argued heatedly at Cyborg.

"And I'm telling you, the man doesn't want to be poisoned by your nasty-ass tofu! He's probably sick of the stuff and wants some _REAL_ food!" Cyborg yelled back at the green changeling, trying to use the stove to cook some bacon and sausages.

"Come on, he's a ninja! He won't want fatty meats!" Beast Boy retorted.

"Actually…I like meat," Ifrit stated at he was suddenly behind the two.

They both screamed in surprise, Beast Boy not aware that his voice had almost reached a girlish pitch.

Cyborg quickly recovered when he heard what the ninja said. "Hah! I pegged you right!"

"But I also eat tofu," Ifrit quickly stated.

"Ah, man…you just had to ruin the moment," Cyborg said, his ego quickly deflating.

"So as a fellow tofu-lover, which do you think is better?" Beast Boy instantly asked.

Ifrit just looked at the two serious-looking boys and then turned to Raven, who was getting far away from the scene. Seeing he was on his own with the matter, he shrugged. "I do not have a preference. I always believed it I was fortunate enough to get a scrap of food anywhere I could find it."

That killed the mood in the room and everyone stared at Ifrit in wonder.

"You didn't have a home, Ifrit?" Robin asked.

Ifrit nodded in confirmation. "I've been alone for a long time. My first memory was being alone and cold…" He then started heading for the table. "I will eat whatever you wish to serve."

Everyone could only stare as he sat down quietly and waited. Robin shot a glance over to Raven, noting quickly a look of concern for the newcomer. He nudged Starfire to get her attention and pointed at Raven. The redhead quickly followed where he was pointing and saw Raven's expression, and then she smiled in excitement, winking at Robin knowingly.

Cyborg fixed his slack-jawed face and roared out unexpectedly, scaring everyone, including Ifrit. "THAT'S NOT GONNA STAND!"

"I apologize?" Ifrit uttered by default, suddenly feeling very worried.

Cyborg charged over to Ifrit and pointed his spatula at the ninja. "Everyone on this team is fed well and eats hearty! Nobody is just given whatever they feel they deserve. You want something, you gonna ask exactly what you want and expect to get it, you got me?"

"…Umm, I guess," Ifrit replied weakly, leaning back and regarding the spatula like a knife.

"Then what do you want to eat!" Cyborg demanded.

Ifrit blinked. It took him a moment to realize the cybernetic man actually meant it. "Uh, I-I'll take some bacon and miso soup with some tofu." He figured if he went with both food items, neither of the weird boys would take offense.

"Good! That's more like it!" Cyborg exclaimed, his anger instantly vanished as he smiled widely, then marched back to the kitchen, murmuring. "Where the hell do we keep the miso? Wait, do we even have miso?"

Robin laughed as he sat down at the table next to Ifrit. "You'll get used to it."

"No…I'm pretty sure, I won't," Ifrit countered, keeping his eyes on the unpredictable cyborg.

Robin smirked at that. "You'd be surprised, but anyway. I was wondering if I could take you up on learning that technique you used yesterday after breakfast."

Ifrit instantly switched at the news of training. "I keep my word and if you wish to learn later, then I will teach you."

"Awesome!" Robin said excitedly.

As it turned out they did have some miso, as Cyborg brought a bowl of it to the table after he finished cooking breakfast for everyone, leaving the tofu for Beast Boy to cook up, as he refused to make any of the stuff on principle. The green changeling had no problem serving it up to Ifrit, who then took the offered tofu and threw some small chucks of it in the miso soup and began eating. After some time the other Titans who had stayed for the night, showed up in the Common Room and joined them. They were all excited to talk to Ifrit, wanting to get to know more about him, and he was as reluctant as he was before about telling them anything, but then he was saved from any explanation when the alarms all went off. Robin quickly went to the computer and checked what set off the alarms.

"Dr. Light has just attacked a Science University, and he was spotted with Psimon!" Robin reported to everyone. "We have to hurry! Titans East, you're with us, the rest of you stay here on standby! Titans! GO!"

**xXx**

When they arrived to the university, they were all astonished at what they found. The entire place looked like a warzone. The police and security guards were all shattered and wounded; most of them blissfully knocked out as some had nasty injuries. Parts of the campus looked either melted or nearly demolished; the main entrance was completely blown away.

"What happened here? Was this really all done by Dr. Light and Psimon?" Beast Boy awed in horror at the carnage.

"Whatever happened, they've gone too far," Robin stated with a snarl. "Titans East, help get the wounded out of here. We'll keep Dr. Light and Psimon busy until you've got it cleared, then jump in and help take him down!"

"Got it, Rob!" Bumblebee said and zipped over with her team to start getting the wounded to safety.

"We'll rush the two before they realize we're on them! We can't let them get away after all this!" Robin said to his original teammates.

"…A little too late, Robin," a familiar, yet oddly more sinister voice called out to them.

A blast of energy erupted out of the destroyed entrance. The Titans all scattered to avoid being struck by the energy blast, leaving the spot they had been occupying hissing and melting. From the entrance stepped out a man in a white and black outfit. It had white cybernetic armor placed in key vital points around a black suit. That wasn't much of a surprise to the Titans, but the man's armor was less bulky than it used to be and he now wore a black cape. The man's face was a picture of cold, calculating wickedness.

"Ah, the Teen Titans," Dr. Light said with a condescending voice. "To belief that I used to tremble in worry when you showed up, but now…I feel utterly revolted that I lost to a bunch of snot-nosed brats!"

"Whoa…is that really the same Dr. Light?" Beast Boy said, feeling actually afraid of this menacing man staring them all down.

"…Something's up with him and that gear he's got on," Cyborg said quickly after running a quick scan with his sensors on the villain. "I can barely penetrate his tech and what I am able to see doesn't look good for us."

"I'm assuming you've never fought him seriously before?" Ifrit asked his new team.

"No, we did fight him seriously, but all those times in the past he was a bit of a goof," Robin answered, wondering if he should get the other Titan team to stop what they were doing and join the fight, but then decided against it. They needed to give them time to get the wounded out of here, that was more important than taking down the villain.

"Then I suggest you take this man very serious. Those eyes…they are a killer's eyes," Ifrit warned as he crotched down in his fighting pose.

Dr. Light drew his steely eyes to Ifrit. "I see you have a new annoying attention to your team. Humph, you'll need all the help you can get…because the kiddy gloves have come off!" He then let off a series of short, powerful blasts from his hands, his gloves giving away a bright glow as the only warning he was about to attack.

The attacks forced the Titans to scatter even more from one another.

"He's trying to split us up! Form back up and attack!" Robin warned, shocked that Dr. Light was actually using a strategy.

"Shouting out your plans won't help you, Robin," Dr. Light reprimanded and was flying start at the Boy Wonder, shocking him completely as he did not know the villain could now fly.

Dr. Light sped at him at an impressive speed and he whipped out with his glowing hands and punched Robin in two vital spots in his chest. Robin fell screaming in pain, crashing back onto the scorched concrete. Two singed holes in his uniform had been left after Dr. Light's attack, smoking and leaving the area smelling of slight burning flesh.

"Pathetic," Dr. Light snarled and kicked Robin across the head, and then shot up his hand to catch a starbolt that was aimed for his head.

This shocked Starfire. No one had ever been able to stop one of her starbolts, let alone catch it as though it were a ball. It then got worse when the starbolt trapped in his hand was immediately absorbed into his glove.

"Thank you for the small power-boost, Starfire," Dr. Light snickered, pointing the hand he caught the starbolt at her. "But I don't want to be a hog!" A ball of light materialized in his opened palm and it darted like a living missile at the alien redhead and exploded when it made contact on her.

She barely had time to throw up her arms to block the ball, but the force of the explosion sent her slamming down into the pavement, leaving a huge crater where she landed hard.

"Ah, hell! This is not good!" Cyborg said and instantly opened out a comm to all Titans. "Emergency! All Titans gather to...Argh!" A wave of photons slammed into him and smashed him into a smoking police car.

"Nuh-uh! This is a private party…and I want to take care of you brats before I start going after the rest of you," Dr. Light stated as he strolled over to Starfire with a very questionable smirk on his face. "Hmm, you're developing into quite a woman, Starfire. It's a shame to let it get so banged up…"

"Get away from her!" Beast Boy shouted as he turned into a rhinoceros and charged start for Dr. Light.

The villain just smiled evilly and stood his ground as the Titan came at him. Right when it looked like he should have been knocked back by Beast Boy's horn, a protective sphere of light appeared around him and Beast Boy was instantly thrown back from a repulsing force from the sphere. He grinned viciously as he fired a huge beam of light at the thrown-back Titan and forced him to slam right into a recovering Cyborg, who had just managed to pull himself out of the police car wreckage, knocking him out completely. Beast Boy tried to left himself off his friend, but the power of the attack hurt more than it should have and he morphed back into his human form, unconscious.

"Now then…back to you," Dr. Light smirked sickly, as he regarded Starfire. "But you know what? I think I would rather take out some of my frustrations with you…Raven." He then shot up into the air to avoid three ruined cars from hitting him. Spinning around in the air, he gazed down at Raven, who had started to redirect the cars back at him. "Yes, you are just the one…"

He started to float toward her, easily destroying the cars she sent at him with three bursts of light energy. His venture was stopped when a swirl of fire materialized before him and a red blade sliced at him. Ducking back, Dr. Light fired off two beams of light energy at the threat, only for it to pass through it harmlessly. Ifrit then teleported right behind the villain and sliced at him again with a broadsword he had created. Not expecting the sudden attack from behind, the blade caught him in the back, and he cried out in rage.

"You pathetic worm!" Dr. Light screamed and began to glow with energy all around his body. All around him, the area started to darken and his body glowed brighter by the second.

Raven instantly realized what the sinister man was doing and shouted out to Ifrit in warning. "Get back! He's absorbing the light all around him!"

The warning got out too late as Dr. Light unleashed his gathered energy in a massive beam aimed right at the ninja. Ifrit started to teleport but then white-hot pain ran through his head, and he flinched in agony at the unexpected pain, leaving him completely vulnerable to the beam. Ifrit vanished in the blinding light and explosions ringed out around the area. After the beam faded, twenty feet of pavement and rock were melted down, leaving a pool of molten lava where Ifrit once was.

Another man appeared right then at the edge of the lava pool. He was a pale man in a crimson robed uniform with a glass-like dome making up the top of his head, exposing a pulsing brain. The man looked made a disapproving sound as he turned away from the pool.

"Not impressive at all on his fist day, hmm?" Psimon remarked, addressing his partner.

"That one got off easy if you ask me," Dr. Light growled and spat into the lava pool as he floated down next to his colleague. "But now that he is out of the way, it's only us…and little Raven."

The two men turned to smirk evilly at the last Titans. She started to look around for Titans East, but then she gasped in horror when she saw them knocked out just a few feet away from where they were fighting.

"Your friends proved little of a challenge, save for that girl Bumblebee…her resistance to psychic intrusions was most annoying, but nothing my powers still couldn't handle," Psimon said, answering her unsaid question. "You were more fun than they were…but I wonder how you'll fair against my psychic powers and while fending off Dr. Light, too."

"Just what is your game, Psimon? Dr. Light never was this ruthless," Raven demanded.

"Oh, but here you are wrong, Raven. He was always like this, but it seems that someone had tampered with his brain at some point in the past had performed a bit of lobotomy on him," Psimon revealed to her, smirking as he folded his arms into the sleeves of his robes. "I became aware of this after an incident when Dr. Light had accidentally bashed his head against a wall while he was trying to flee from a bank robbery. I admit, I was annoyed with him but he has proven to be a decent partner to give up, so I saw to his recovery and found the altered changed to his mind. It took me no time after that with my psychic abilities to repair the damage and restore him to his true self. Now I must say that he is my ideal partner in crime and what a nice bonus that he shares my desire to spread fear and torment as I do."

"Yes, once he fixed my mind, I was able to rebuild a better suit and use its full potential…as you can plainly see," Dr. Light added as he spread out his arms to the carnage around him. "Sadly for you, my dear…this just means a very naughty fate."

The look in his eyes instantly had Raven very nervous. It was a look that spoke in ways that made her skin crawl.

"Dr. Light, please don't take too long," Psimon said, pulling out something large and shiny from his sleeve. It was twice the size of his hand and had a shiny black surface of a gem. "I want to begin analyzing this black diamond as soon as possible…the energy this thing is putting off is remarkable!"

Dr. Light shot him a dirty look, but then grunted. "Then use your psychic attacks on her already. I'll deal with the bitch faster if she's unable to fight."

"Oh, very well," Psimon said offhandedly, not taking his eyes off the diamond when he lashed out with his mind at Raven.

She had tried to put up a strong mental defense as he did. But she had not expected the grief of Ifrit's death to strike her so deeply and she could not focus quickly enough. Psimon's attack broke through her defenses and she screamed and screamed as her mind exploded in pain. Her agony was increased when Dr. Light blasted her with an energy beam, throwing her off her feet and singing the front of her leotard some. The light-manipulator licked his lips as he stalked over to the squirming empathy. She could barely register that he was approaching and now stood over her.

"You have no idea how long I've waited to see you at my feet, Raven," Dr. Light sneered, reaching down and grabbing a fist full of her cloak and lifted her up. He punched her square in the stomach, smiling in glee when a squirt of blood was coughed up from her mouth when she gasped from the strike. He punched her again and then slapped her across the face. "You really have no idea! All those times in the past were you humiliated me! Made me into a quivering mess with your powers! Now I'll see you squirm! I'll see you humiliated out here in the open!" He grabbed her chest, snickering eagerly, as he crushed her developing chest painfully. "Oh, yes. I'm gonna humiliate you right here and now…as I have other women in the past, or used to before my temporary brain modification. Now then, why don't we just get started now, hmm?"

He let go and punched her against in the stomach, using a controlled burst of light energy to blast her off his hand and burn some of her leotard off. The blast had only managed to burn off the clothing around her stomach, but that would be quickly remedied by him. The attack had been very painfully for her, though. She let out a scream that almost tore her vocal cords apart as she howl that echoed throughout the whole area.

The sound had brought a pleasing smile to both Dr. Light and Psimon. The insane psychic was so pleased that he actually forgot about his prize for a moment to look over at his partner's handiwork to enjoy her suffering.

From behind him, a ripple appeared in the pool of lava and grew to a quaking state. Psimon suddenly sensed something a tremendous amount of rage and turned to the pool just as the lava exploded upward. A form jumped out of the lava and flipped over the psychic villain. Psimon shielded himself from the droplets of lava that dripped over him and he stared in awe at the Titan that he thought Dr. Light had dealt with.

Ifrit turned to him, his appearance seemingly unfazed by the intense heat of the lava, save for most of his jacket and patches of his pants. Psimon's smile slowly started to fade when he sensed the rage emitting off this boy. It started to manifest around him in a sphere of red fire and his eyes blazed like two angry suns. The newest member of the Teen Titans growled like a beast.

"Hmm, you're a stubborn one. Well, no matter…just a little minor inconvenience, easily solved," Psimon said as he directed his psychic powers at him, as he did before the boy could teleport away from Dr. Light's attack.

What he did not expect was the burning sensation that run through his skull when he made contact with the boy's.

"What…t-that's impossible!" Psimon uttered in fear. "H-He's able to block me!"

Dr. Light groaned at the interruption and looked over his shoulder to see the ninja-like Titan was still live. "Damn, brat…should have stayed down. You had the easiest demise. Too bad you chose to show your face again." He fired an energy beam directly at Ifrit.

Ifrit did nothing when the beam hit him. The beam struck him right in the shoulder and should had incinerated his flesh and pass right on through him. What happened instead was the beam absorbed into his skin, leaving his ash shaded skin neon red before it cooled back down to its normal state. Ifrit jerked his head to Dr. Light.

"What the? He absorbed the energy!" Dr. Light shouted in disbelief and dropped Raven.

She whimpered in pain when she hit the ground and Ifrit narrowed his burning eyes at her and then back at Dr. Light. _**"Big…Mistake…"**_ he said with a animalistic snarl.

"Psimon! Put this fool down, now!" Dr. Light ordered.

Psimon flinched back in pain when he tried to establish another mental link. "I can't! Somehow he's formed a literal psychic firewall around his mind! He's fueling it with a strong emotional focus that I cannot get through!"

"So the new kid has a few tricks up his sleeves…fine. I'll just cut to the chase and end it now!" Dr. Light stated and fired twin energy beams from both hands.

Like before, the beams were absorbed into Ifrit, leaving red glowing patches before they cooled down. A look of pure worry crossed his face now. "S-Shit!"

Psimon took a risk and used his telekinesis to entrapped the Titan, but the ninja teleported as soon as he started to. He reached out with his senses and looked around wildly for the Titan. If he could just make physical contact with him, then he could break through his mental defenses and put the irritating teenager in a world of unimaginable psychic agony. That was how he finally bested Bumblebee when he took out the other team.

"Where is the brat?" Psimon growled out impatiently.

"_**Right…here,"**_ Ifrit whispered directly behind him.

The psychic-user lashed out without turning, aiming to knock him down so he could reach around and make contact, but as soon as he did, he felt a wave of warmth and then another as Ifrit teleported an inch from his face.

"_**Boo…"**_ Ifrit whispered just as Psimon suddenly felt his stomach burning up.

He looked own and saw Ifrit had two orbs of fire pressed against him. Psimon only had a fraction of a second to understand what was about to happen when the orbs launched out of Ifrit's hands and sent him rocketing up into the sky where they exploded. From the smoky, burning cloud that was produced from the explosion, Psimon's scorched body crashed down back to earth and did not move.

"Damn it!" Dr. Light hissed after seeing Psimon go down. He charged up for another attack but he aimed his hand at Raven. "You may not seem to be affected by my energy, but I know for a fact that it will kill this bitch! Now keep back and I'll be on my way with my hostage and maybe you'll get to see her again!"

Ifrit tilted his head.

"Don't act dumb with me! I will kill her right now if you don't back off now!" Dr. Light promised, reaching down and pressing his hand against Raven's shoulder, the energy burning away at her clothes and flesh.

Ifrit threw his head back and a roar of pure uncontrolled rage pour forth from him. The roar scared Dr. Light back, releasing his burning hold on Raven, and backing away from the enraged ninja.

From the shadows of Ifrit's hood a pair of black horns spiraled out and corkscrewed back over his head as a smaller set curled straight up and curved inward just above the fiery eyes. His body began to jerk and where his skin could be seen spasms ran through his muscles just before they bulked out. He fell to his hands and knees and thick black talons emerged from the ends of his fingers and toes. He crotched there like a cat a primal growl rolling out of him as he started to slowly stalk up to the scared Dr. Light.

He snarled back in rage against his fear and started to draw in all the light around him to charge himself. "Whatever the hell you are…even you have a limit to just how much energy you can absorb at once! I'll burn you to ashes!"

Ifrit pounced right at him, fire bursting to life all around him and he rocketed straight at the villain like a living ball of fire and slammed into him. Burning hands clinched around Dr. Light's shoulders and pinned him down as his back struck the heated concrete.

"Get off me!" Dr. Light screamed, the fire on the Titan starting to burn through even his protective suit.

Ifrit roared right into the man's face, shutting him up quickly as terror nearly stopped his heart. "J-Just what the hell are you?"

Angry, flaming eyes bore down on Dr. Light as the head they belonged to started to lower itself down. The fire in those eyes ignited brightly and lit up the hidden face that the shadows had kept previously a secret. What he saw in that hood had Dr. Light screaming madly right as Ifrit roared and sank his face down into the trapped man's shoulder and blood splatted out everywhere.

Close to them, Raven was slowly getting over her pain and stared up at the horrifying scene. She watched as Ifrit mauled the man that nearly raped her like a wild beast and burned and clawed at the man when he tried to push him off. When Dr. Light grabbed at Ifrit's head and tried in vain to pull his head off his shoulder, all he did was get a hold of his hood and yank it back, revealing not the handsome face she had seen before, but the face of a savage demon. His mouth had warped to a sinisterly long muzzle full of long jagged fangs and curled up almost in a devilish smile. The skin was pulled back tight like leather and cracked around his burning eyes. Around his mouth a thick coat of blood splattered it and was biting down on more flesh, working on pulling a good chuck of it off his prey.

"…Oh, Azar," Raven whispered. "He's…He's like me."

Groaning back the pain, Raven pushed herself up and tried to get to her feet, but doubled-over as her abdomen screamed in protest from the electrical pain and sharp stab that ran up her body. From the feel of it, Dr. Light had broken two of her ribs and caused a bit of nerve damage. He bastard really meant to kill her and rape her injured body, but she forced herself to forget that at the moment and concentrate on the matter at hand.

"Ifrit! Please! You have to stop!" Raven tried to yell out, only for a hoarse sound to come out of her damaged throat. "D-Damn…" she cursed haggardly, then started crawling over to the bloody scene. "P-Please, Ifrit….d-don't do it!" she still tried to call out, hoping he'd hear her.

He apparently did not as he still worked on biting off the flesh from the screaming Dr. Light.

She growled out her frustrations and fought to move faster over to him. Her hand shout out and despite the flames around his body, she stuck it through them to grab his wrist. The moment she made contact, she had expected to draw his attention to her. But in that moment, her eyes flashed white-hot and she found herself seeing images of a boy in rags running aimlessly, hiding in dirty streets and crying sadly. She saw the same boy being attacked by strangers who did not understand him because he could not speak their language, being left to bleed and die after their beatings. Then she saw a monster of a being raging around, attacking those same men, filling the air with their screams and with their ashes after they were burnt alive. One finally vision played out of the boy waking up in a room full of ash, looking scared and panicked at the scene around him and then running for his life.

Her hand released Ifrit's wrist and she blinked her eyes to find a pair of scared, familiar orange eyes looking back at her. "R-Raven?"

"Ifrit?" Raven called back, seeing his horns begin to retract back into his forehead.

"I...I…" He started down at the wounded Dr. Light, having bled out enough to be too weak to do anything, and then quickly jerked off of him, starting down at the blood on his body and started trying to wipe it off his face. "No! NO! NO! NO! NOT AGAIN!" he panicked, trying to get the blood off him, wiping at his blood frantically.

"Ifrit!" Raven whispered painfully, pushing herself up to her knees. "Don't panic. Just calm down."

His eyes scanned the area wildly in fright, his stoic mask completely gone with one of sheer terror. "I…I almost killed…I let it out!"

Raven finally got back to her feet and started limping over to him. "Don't panic, Ifrit."

Ifrit seemed to finally hear her as he whipped his head to her. "Y-you saw? You saw it all, didn't you?"

Raven could only nod and still kept going toward him. He flinched away from her, scared beyond anything else. "W-Why then? Why aren't you running away from me?"

He did not expect to see the understanding smile that Raven shined at him as she drew closer. He froze when she placed a hand on his chest, and then soon wrapped her arms around him. "Because I know what you are…and I know what it's like." She buried her face against his chest and hugged him tightly. "It's okay, Ifrit. You're not alone anymore."

His body trembled in her arms and all that strength she could feel in him was swept away when he collapsed to his knees, wrapping his arms around her and shook uncontrollably. "H-How can you know?"

"I just can…b-because I'm," Raven was stopped when she heard shouts call out for her.

The two looked back to see Cyborg and all of Titans East back on their feet and hurrying over to them. Beast Boy and Robin were carrying Starfire and they all worked their way to them.

"Raven, what happened? And why is Ifrit covered in blood?" Cyborg questioned, seeing the crimson staining the new member and seeing the gory mess that used to be Dr. Light's shoulder.

Ifrit turned his face away in shame, but Raven hugged him more. "Save it for later, Cyborg. Let's get Dr. Light and Psimon dealt with, and then get back to the tower to treat our wounds. I'll explain everything then."

Ifrit figured the metal Titan was going to demand answers, scream at them until he turned blue for the mess that he caused, but all Cyborg did was pat his shoulder and nod at Raven. "Got it!"

He looked up to see Cyborg quickly going over to Dr. Light and trying to bandage the man's ruined shoulder and then found the suits power-core and removed it, leaving him defenseless. He then had Titans East get restraints on Psimon and the team took the two villains to the authorities to have put away for the time being. He then saw them all smiling at him and waving to head back to the tower. Ifrit was too rocked by it all to understand how they acted as though he did not just mauled a man near to death and fry the other.

He finally asked. "W-Why?"

Raven helped him back to his feet and held as they walked together back to the rest of the team. "…Because you're one of us now, Ifrit. You're a Titan, and that will never change."

Ifrit was too overwhelmed to speak then. All he could do was follow the team back to the tower and silent be in awed at this group of people—no! This group of friends he had miraculously made. Raven was the biggest mystery to him, but somehow she pulled him out of his rage, she literally forsook her own safety to reach out to him and got him to regain control of himself. And even after that, she did not push him away after what he did. She was not afraid of him.

It was for the first time in his life that Ifrit finally understood the real meaning of friendship. He wasn't along anymore. He belonged somewhere and were it not for the hood he had had pulled back over his head, Raven would have seen his tears falling down happily and steaming off his face.

As they all returned to the Tower, Cyborg had locked up the black diamond that was nearly stolen from the university. When it was in complete darkness inside the vault, it began to pulse and a dark light emitted from its core as a set of golden eyes opened up on the diamond's surface.

"…_**.Sssssooooon."**_

**xXx**

**A/N:** There you have it. The new chapter. But I wonder. Do you all like this version or did you still prefer the old one? This has been plaguing me for a while and Darklost feels I should re-post the old one, but I still think this one might have hope, but I'm still unsure So, I'm gonna leave it to you guys to decide in that choice: This one or the old one. Depending on what you say in your reviews will decide for once if you want me to keep going with this one or to re-post the old one.

Till then…


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer**: **No I don't own Teen Titans or Batman; both are the rightful property of DC Comics and Cartoon Network. Only rights pertaining to this story is the plot and original character: Ifrit.**

**A/N: Surprise! Yes, I got this one updated. So without further ado, let's get back on track here.**

_**xXx**_

**A New Look**

Most of the Titans were in the Infirmary patching their wounds. Cyborg and the entire team of Titans East barely had any wounds, just a few bruises and some mental trauma after Psimon's psychic attacks. They rested in the beds while Cyborg worked on sealing some broken areas in his armor and melding some loose plates. Beast Boy was in one of the infirmary beds with a huge ice pack on his head and another on his shoulder where he landed on Cyborg the hardest. Starfire had a few nasty scrapes on her skin but easily treated them with some bacteria killing ointment to keep infection from spreading. She was busy fawning over Robin, whose injuries were worst. He had sustained two third-degree burns on his chest during the fight with Dr. Light and the wounds almost spread over his entire chest.

Cyborg had given him something for the pain and wrapped his burns with a new skin treatment gel provided by S.T.A.R.S Labs to treat severe burns for their astronauts and was a common medical stock in the Justice League's Watchtower, who were the first people to test out the gel after a few incidents with the members. It proved very effective and numbed the damaged skin while aiding in repairing it. It was the best stuff but it would be slow going for Robin for a few days until he was fully healed from his burns.

Raven had used the same cream for the burns she had received, but did not need anything to help the pain. Her hand was completely wrapped up, though. She had also taken the time to switch into a fresh set of clothes, throwing her ripped and scorched ones in the trash-bin, then treated her other wounds, not at all looking like she took so much damage as she did during the fight. Ifrit had come out of the battle without a mark somehow, having remained silent about how his wounds were nowhere in sight, but he did not need to explain. She knew exactly why he looked fine, she would heal from most of her wounds by tomorrow, the burns on her hands would look like a light sunburn by then and by the next day, it would be gone.

She did not mention anything to the others about this. Nor did any of them fret too much about her own injuries, as they all understood _why_ she would heal so fast. She made sure everyone was stable, leaving Bumblebee in charge of overseeing they all rested, along with her own team, then she quietly made her way out of the Infirmary after she saw Ifrit had slipped out at some point. Her feet led her back to the roof of the tower where she found Ifrit sitting on the edge, watching the sunset over the ocean horizon.

"Doing okay?" Raven asked softly as she kneeled down to sit next to him.

"If you are referring to my injuries, I have already recovered," Ifrit replied somewhat sourly.

Raven glanced at him out of the side of her eye for a brief moment. A flash of concern rose up before it was replaced with her controlled, monotone expression.

"Do the others know what you are?" Ifrit suddenly asked.

Raven was ready for the question. She expected him to figure it out. "At first they didn't. Like you, I was afraid of them finding out and pushing me away." A soft smile rose up on her lips. "But they didn't. They saw that I was different and accepted it. I'm their friend and in the Titans, that's all that matters."

"You are a strange bunch…but I'm glad to know that," Ifrit replied and the harshness in his words disappeared. He pulled back his hood, not bothering with his face mask as that had been damaged too much in the last fight to stay on his face.

Raven found herself staring at his face again. The setting sun's dimming glow set his hair shining like a dark flame and his eyes glowed like two liquid pools of amber. She could not pull away from how the light responded to him, and yet at the same time feel the darkness that marked his existence. It wasn't until he started speaking that she realized that he was looking back at her.

"Is something the matter?"

Raven quickly looked down at her lap, fumbling her hands together and trying to suppress the blush that was brightening her face. "N-No! I mean, I never thought I'd ever run into someone like me."

"Nor I," Ifrit replied softly.

"Do…you know much about your parents?" Raven asked very carefully. She knew she was trending on thin ice as talk of her own parents was a touchy subject for her.

Ifrit stared at her for a long moment with a stoic expression. She thought she may have offended him and overstepped her boundaries, but then he reached into the underside of his left gauntlet and pulled out a piece of charred paper. He opened it and handed it to her. She accepted and saw it was in face a photo. The bottom half of it looked like set on fire, but from the way it looked, whatever had tried to burn it had been done a long time ago. What was left of the picture showed a beautiful woman with deep-black hair tied back in a professional ponytail and brown eyes hidden behind black-rimmed glasses. She wore a laboratory coat over a red blouse and she seemed to be happy as she was smiling at whoever had taken the photo.

"She's beautiful," Raven said admirably, looking up at him and seeing him nod graciously. She looked at the background and from she could tell it was the woman's office as she was sitting at a desk and had a full room to herself. She had to have been someone of importance to have her own separate office from the rest. She was compelled to flip it over for some reason and did so, finding on the back a name. "…Lilith."

"I'm assuming that is her name," Ifrit remarked sadly as he took the photo back and slipped it back inside his gauntlet.

Raven's eye widened. "You never met her?"

Ifrit shook his head sadly. "…I wasn't raised under conventional means. It was by luck that I was able to find that photo of her when I returned to my…place of birth."

Her mouth opened up as she was about ask what he meant by that, but he held up a hand to silence her question. "Please…save that one for another time."

Accepting that he did not wish to talk about it, she changed her question. "…Do you know who your father was?"

"No…but I know that it is because of him that I am what I am," Ifrit growled darkly, his eyes now glowing and bleeding the amber touch in them into deep crimson.

"…It's the same with me," Raven revealed softly, pulling her legs up to rest her chin on them and curled her arms around them. "My mother was…tricked into a ritual. The end result was being pregnant with me. She raised me with the monks on Azarath, where they taught me how to control my powers so that I would not be a harm to anyone…but the cost of that control is to devoid myself of all emotions. My mother compelled that I do my best to suppress my darker side, but…it seemed no matter what I did, she was always sad."

She did not have a great connection with her mother, she admitted that to herself. The two were always walking on egg shells it seemed, and she knew the reason why…she was a reminder that she had been used to give birth to a tool that would bring about the end of the world.

"I was…a portal. Born only to allow my father to gain a foothold in this world and as soon as he stepped in, he turned the entire world into a living hell. I was…"

"So that's what happened," Ifrit cut in suddenly.

"What?" Raven looked at him curiously.

"…During my travels, I was actually just leaving my birthplace when suddenly everywhere…everything turned into hell. I had no idea what had happened, only that I was suddenly on the run from these fiery beings that started chasing after me," Ifrit said.

Raven could only stare at him. Everyone on earth had been turned into stone when Trigon entered this dimension. The only ones that were saved by that change were her friends, but that was only due to her sharing her powers with them, shielding them from Trigon's evil influence. For Ifrit to not be affected by the change meant his powers were very much like her own.

"It didn't end until a great blinding light and everything was back to normal…I kept wondering what the hell happened," Ifrit continued.

"That light you saw…That was me," Raven said and was rewarded by seeing shock on his stern face. "Yeah, I know. It's hard to believe…but I finally overcame my fear that no one could defeat Trigon. My friends showed me that it could be done, and their courage gave me the strength to defeat him and I was able to fix what he destroyed."

"Amazing," Ifrit uttered, looking at her in a whole new light.

Raven shrugged. "I don't like to boast about my powers…knowing where they came from."

"I understand all too well," Ifrit agreed, clinching a fist until his knuckles popped.

Raven nodded. "After that time…I found my father's influence didn't have any more control over me. I could allow myself to be human, more than I could before at least. I still have to watch them some. I can still destroy things around me if I'm not careful."

"You overcame your fears. That is a great achievement," Ifrit applauded and surprised himself when he put his hand on her shoulder.

The two paused as soon as the hand touched her. Neither could explain what had happened or the reason for it, but what happened had been more than he ever would have imagined. Where his hand touched, coils of blue energy circulated through his skin and he felt a wave of calmness cool over him, like a gentle wind caressing his skin. It fanned down the rage that was ever present in him and for once…he felt something else, something completely foreign to him.

Raven gasped at the sudden warmth that flushed through her where his hand touched. It was comforting and eased the remaining aches she had from the battle. She blinked slowly, not sure what to make of it. "…I-Ifrit?"

Hearing her voice broke the spell and Ifrit jerked his hand away in fright. "I…I apologize!"

"N-No! I'm…I'm not sure what happened but I know you didn't mean to," Raven quickly assured, reaching out with one hand to him, almost wantingly.

Ifrit wanted to run from her touch. He was so frightened by what he felt and yet at the same time…he wanted to experience it again, feel that sense of peace one more time. His eyes followed her hand, watching helplessly as it inched close for him. The need to feel that again was almost like a burn that actually hurt him. His face moved towards her hand as his body responded on its own and he once again was blessed with that sensation when her fingertips stroked his cheek.

The feeling returned for the both of them and they started to pull closer toward each other…wandering if they made more contact would it increase this wondrous moment?

The moment ended abruptly once again when a voice shouted out to them.

"Raven, I heard about Dr. Light! I was so worried…Oh, heh heh! Did I find you guys at a bad time?" Argent giggled when she saw what the two were doing.

Ifrit blinked and found his hand over Raven's, noting the bizarre coils of energy still dancing over his skin. Raven, feeling timid all of a sudden, when she realized that her face was now only two inches away from his face. Quickly withdrew from him and stood up as fast as she could while looking away from him. Ifrit reacted somewhat similar, jerking his hood back over his head and staring down at the beach at the edge of the small island.

"I see you're moving fast, Raven," Argent teased.

Raven shot an annoyed glare at her silver-skinned friend.

Argent giggled at her and winked at Ifrit. "Don't blame you. I was planning on the same thing really."

"Nani!?" Ifrit uttered and looked at Argent.

Argent giggled even more and winked over at Raven, who just blushed madly and tried to yank her hood completely over her face to hide her embarrassment.

"Oh, come on, loves. I'm just teasing you a bit. I'm just glad to see you taking an interest in someone, Raven," Argent said sincerely and walked over to her friend.

Raven didn't reply. She was still too embarrassed to trust her voice to speak. It only increased and caused the tower to shake after Argent leaned over and whispered into her ear. "Maybe we can share 'em, ah? After you find out how nice he is in the sack."

What both girls forgot was that Ifrit had excellent hearing. His hand shot up to over his face to hide the sudden spurt of blood that started to leak from his nose. Cursing heavily at his hormones and the images that ran through his head, Ifrit quickly wiped his nose clean before they saw the mess, not wishing for them to think poorly of him for having a moment of perverted thoughts. Seeing neither noticed his state, he got away from being caught and worked on composing himself…not aware at all that the air around him was heating up greatly.

Argent noticed that and began fanning herself. "Whoa, it's starting to get hot and muggy out here. What say we head back inside and get some food going for the team?"

"H-Hai," Ifrit said nervously as Raven nodded in agreement.

Neither Ifrit nor Raven realized that they were relieved to have an excuse to do something else. The bizarre feeling that passed through them when they touched each other unnerved them down to their core. They fell quiet while they trekked down the stairs and entered the common room. Argent and Raven went to the kitchen to begin preparing some food, but were stopped by Ifrit.

"I'll handle the cooking. Why don't you go make sure the rest of the team is doing okay," Ifrit said as he started pulling out cooking pans and pots.

"That'd be too much work by yourself," Raven interjected.

Ifrit continued to gather the cooking utensils with his back to them. "I like cooking…"

Raven and Argent glanced at each other with questionable brows raised, then back to Ifrit.

"Well, if you need some help, don't be afraid to ask, okay?" Argent said, then started to leave, jerking her head to Raven for her to come along.

Raven felt the urge to stay but she sensed Ifrit wanted to be left alone. Whatever happened up on the roof had greatly affected him, and she honestly felt it might be wise to put some distance between herself and him, just until things settled down to figure out what the heck had happened. So she turned away and left Ifrit to prepare dinner for everyone and followed Argent back to the Infirmary to check on everyone. She found Robin was asleep, having taken some more painkillers to allow him to rest. Starfire had stated she planned to remain with him until he woke up, so they'd have to have someone bring her food later on. Cyborg finished with his minor repairs and was making sure Titans East were all okay.

While he did, Raven scanned their minds to check for any mental trauma they might have suffered. Finding none, she was thankful they were fortunate enough that Psimon's mental attacks hadn't left any permanent damage to their psyche. Obviously, the sociopathic mentalist was too pleased with his renewed partner to put more effort into his attacks, believing Dr. Light could easily deal with all the dirty work himself. The deranged genius appeared to take great delight in inflicting physical pain just as much as Psimon enjoyed causing psychological pain. The two really were a good pair, but that just made them all the more dangerous. They would need to make sure that they did not break out of prison and pair up again. It would be disastrous for the Teen Titans if they ran into the duo again now that Dr. Light was smarter and deadlier now. But knowing what she knew now about Dr. Light's condition…she had to wonder how did he end up so dumb? What caused him to lose his level of intelligence?

As she pondered some over what might have been the reason, she found herself feeling that she may not want to know the answer. She was already disturbed some with that strange phenomenon that transpired between herself and Ifrit, so she decided to leave Dr. Light's situation alone for now. She focused on making sure all her teammates were fine and easing the lingering pain they had endured, soothing it away with her powers. Once she was finished, everyone was back on their feet. Argent had informed everyone that Ifrit was getting food ready for them, and that was all they needed to hear to start heading for the Common Room.

When they entered, the smell of cooked food greeted their noses and it only made them realize just how hungry they all were. Eagerly, they went to the kitchen where they found Ifrit cooking swiftly over the stove. He was moving with the same grace as his fighting style over the high flames he somehow got the stove to make and whipping ingredients together as fast as he was moving the large pan he was frying everything with. Waiting for everyone on the counter was an assortment of Asian-style dishes from teriyaki beef to steaming plates of tofu. Everyone started in awe at the variety Ifrit was making, who did not seem to notice any of them, appearing focused solely on cooking.

Obviously, he did notice them as he spoke without looking at anyone. "Go ahead and start eating. I wasn't sure what everyone liked, so I made an assortment. If there is something particular you fancy just tell me and I'll work on it now."

"Hey, you think you can whip up some sushi then?" Speedy joked, ignoring the death glare he was getting from Aqualad, but really he was just jerking on Ifrit's chain, thinking he might not be able to make any sushi.

"You like cucumbers or avocados in your sushi?" Ifrit replied offhandedly.

"Cucumber…why…what the?!" Speedy uttered as he say Ifrit moving to a huge pot and scoop out some white rice and the other ingredients he'd need to make sushi.

Speedy watched in amazement as Ifrit carefully made the rolls and packed it with fish meat with small blocks of cucumber, then laying them out on a plate. He kept on going until he made fifteen then pushed the plate right in front of Speedy, and then returned to the rest of the food.

"Dude, where'd you learn to cook so fast?" Speedy said after he stopped gawking.

"Learned it from various chefs and cooks during my travels when I needed to make some… honest money," Ifrit answered while still not looking at anyone.

"So you've been around the world, huh?" Speedy remarked, genuinely curious. "Where did you go?"

"Everywhere," was Ifrit's answer.

"Dude, you've been around the entire world? How old were you when you started?" Speedy urged, wanting to know more about the mysterious ninja.

Ifrit did not answer. He remained quiet and appeared to care only about finishing preparing everyone's meals. Speedy was about to yell at him to not be rude, but a firm hand on his shoulder stopped him and he looked and was surprised to see Cyborg shaking him head at him. Seeing he was treading on a touchy subject, Speedy wisely withheld any protest he may have had to Ifrit's attitude. The guy did save their butts, but that only made him realized something. Ifrit was cooking…while still wearing blood-stained clothes.

The archer stared down at his plate and gulped. "Uh, Ifrit? Did you watch your hands and everything before you started cooking?"

"Yes, why?" Ifrit asked while turning and holding up his arms to show he wasn't wearing his gauntlets or bandages.

Speedy sighed in relief somewhat, but his eyes locked on the dark stains on the front of Ifrit's jacket. "Umm, well, as much as I appreciate you cooking for us all, don't you think it might be good to change into clothes that aren't covered in blood?"

Ifrit paused and looked down at himself, realizing the dilemma, the muttered in Japanese, "…Kuso."

Cyborg took that as his queue to move into the kitchen and take over the cooking. "Here, man. I'll handle the rest of this. Why don't you go change and wash up some. It's not fun to eat when you got dirty after a fight."

"My skin usually burns off any sweat or filth I might obtain during a fight…but these new clothes I was given don't seem to respond to that," Ifrit remarked as he continued to look at his clothes, yanking on them some.

"Where'd you get those clothes?" Cyborg asked.

"From Batman. This outfit was made thanks to him, but it seems the material isn't quite able to withstand the high temperatures I can achieve," Ifrit said and frowned deeply.

Cyborg hummed to himself as he rubbed his chin and looked to be pondering. "I might be able to whip up something to fix that problem."

"Arigatou," Ifrit thanked and bowed his head some. "I'll go check into my extra outfit I was provided."

"Speaking of which, I took the liberty of moving your bags…and those stacks of notes you made into your new room. Had meant to tell you that I had finished getting it set up for you early this morning," Cyborg said.

"Gomen Arigatou…umm, where is my room?" Ifrit asked after thanking Cyborg again.

"I'll show you!" Argent volunteered eagerly, shooting up an arm and waving it.

Ifrit stiffened but he did not refuse her help. Raven on the other hand did not expect a sudden spike of an emotion she was not too familiar with to stab her in the gut and glare angrily at the plasma-wielding girl. Trying to hide the fact that she was feeling so negative. She tried to focus on the food that Ifrit had prepared and pick which of the selections he had worked on looked good to her. Speedy and Aqualad had other ideas.

"Here, we'll help you, too!" the two voiced up, smirking inwardly.

"You don't need to. You should eat and regain your strength," Ifrit insisted.

"Ah, this isn't the first time we've had a weirdo scrambling our brains. Plus, thanks to Raven, we've recovered pretty fast," Aqualad remarked, giving the empath a glance that made Ifrit almost snarl.

The look was too friendly and he could tell that that look had a very specific meaning. He fought back the snarl, lowering his head so his hood could hide the flickering flames coming out of his eyes and turned to Argent. "Whatever…Argent? Would you mind leading the way?"

"Not at all, cutie," Argent flirted, sneaking a quick glance at Raven and smirking widely in her mind at the jealous look the empath was making. _'I'm not trying to take your man, Rae…just wanna see you take some initiative here! He's the first guy I've seen you around that you seem comfortable around…I'm not gonna let you mess this up for yourself.' _

She watched as her empathic friend shrugged it off and tried to act like it did not bother her in the least. She giggled silently at Raven's attempt to hide her real feelings, knowing full well that it did indeed bother her. If things worked out the way she hoped, she might be able to finally get her friend to open up the way she knew Raven really wanted to. It had been wonderful when she learned that Raven had been working on expressing herself now that she had better control of her emotions than she used to, but with certain things she still bottled herself up, like when it came to meeting new people. She'd remain closed and cold toward that person until they proved they were trustworthy, but that person had to really break their neck for that trust to be gained. With their line of work, that wasn't too hard of a task, but there would always be that trace of wariness.

Yet she saw none of those inhibitions when Raven was near Ifrit; that cute scene she found the two in was a very shocking surprise for her, but it was a very welcomed one. She had never seen Raven take an interest in the opposite sex…ever. She was halfway worried Raven might not swing that way, which if she did, it was find in her book, but it was really good to see that she was indeed attracted to boys. Now all she had to do was get Raven to realize she really liked Ifrit and stop being so standoffish…and if she could play around with a really handsome guy for a little bit, that would make it all worthwhile.

With her plan now in mind, Argent wrapped her arms around Ifrit's right one. "Come on, cutie! I'll show you the way!"

Ifrit frowned deeply but allowed himself to be touched by the silver-skinned girl and to be led away. Behind them Speedy and Aqualad followed suite, both with mischievous grins on their faces, which was caught by Bumblebee, who sighed in annoyance. She knew that look and could only feel sorry for Ifrit. Quietly, she went over to Cyborg and leaned over to whisper to him. "…Might be a good idea to go with them."

Cyborg raised an eyebrow. "Why's that?"

"Cuz, the last time I saw those two chuckleheads grinning like that was when Kid Flash crashed at our tower and they were trying to get a peek under his mask. Those two have a bad habit about trying to learn things that they should leave alone, and I fear Ifrit has become their newest target."

Cyborg almost bolted after them. "Oh man! If they tick him off, I don't wanna even imagine what he'd do!" The last thing Cyborg felt like doing was repairing the tower, especially if the damages resulted because of a huge fire.

By the time Cyborg got to the exit, the small group had already gotten to the elevator and took it up to the Living Quarters, leaving him to have to use the stairs. While he was running up to the next level, the elevator had reached the desired floor and the group moved into the hallway. Argent still was clinging to Ifrit's arm, smirking at him knowingly. Ifrit just stared ahead stoically, not wanting to meet the strange look in the girl's eyes. He wasn't comfortable at all with how close she was getting. It wasn't at all like how it felt when Raven was so near. Her presence was almost tranquil to be around and he felt a sense of peace deep within him that he had never had before. With Argent, it was like with everyone else, leaving him feeling uneasy and very on edge.

She wasn't getting the hint that he wanted her to let go of his arm, but he did not want to be rude, either, as she was helping him find his room. What added to the discomfort was the constant snickering he kept hearing from the two boys behind him. It took little intelligence to guess they were plotting something, but exactly what, he wasn't sure. He would just have to remain on guard until he discovered their ulterior motives. They reached what he guessed was his room, as Argent guided him to a set of doors that looked plain enough. They opened automatically after Argent showed Ifrit how to open and close the door and no sooner had they opened, that Aqualad and Speedy rushed into the room, bumping Ifrit and Argent to the side.

"ROOM RAID!" the two shouted and proceeded to tear through the room, looking speedily around for whatever they could get into.

"Hey! Guys, that was so not cool!" Argent shouted after hitting the ground on her rump rather hard.

Ifrit had a different reaction. His eyes were flaming red and without his mask on, his teeth could be seen as he pulled back his lips into a vicious snarl. Argent seeing the rage on his face only sighed for the two idiots that just doomed themselves. Ifrit was off the ground in a flash and charged into the room with painful violence promised in his glowing eyes, which flared out hotly when he spotted the two mischievous boys rummaging through the duffle bags that he brought with him from Gotham. The two were just grabbing whatever they could and tossing it out into the somewhat vacant room, letting it litter about aimlessly as they explored what else may be in the bag.

"Wow, it's just clothes in here! Where is the cool ninja stuff?" Speedy wondered out loud.

"Beats me. Wait! I think I found it!" Aqualad exclaimed as he pulled out a box that looked to be crafted from bamboo.

"Don't touch that!" Ifrit roared upon seeing the box in his hands.

Speedy and Aqualad were only slightly startled by Ifrit's voice, but then the two started smirking at each other.

"Got something interesting to hide in here, huh?" Speedy grinned, pointing at the box Aqualad held.

"Maybe some ninja magic secret, hmm?" Aqualad wondered, giving the box a shake.

Two swords appeared in Ifrit's hands when Aqualad shook his box. "Last warning!"

"I think he's serious, guys…stop being jerks already," Argent said urgently, practically feeling the utter hate rolling off the ninja.

"Maybe if he tells us what's in the box, we will," Speedy challenged, smirking in a way that almost matched the one Robin would make.

"No chance and now no mercy!" Ifrit hissed and teleported from the spot.

Aqualad and Speedy both moved away from each other when they felt a wave of heat appear behind them. Aqualad tucked the box underneath one arm and smirked playfully at Ifrit. "That tricks not gonna work on us twice," Aqualad taunted as he leveled his gaze on the angry new Titan.

"Especially now we know how to avoid wherever you teleport. That heat you put out is a dead giveaway," Speedy added.

Ifrit slowly turned his head toward Speedy and in a blink of an eye, flames appeared right in front of Speedy quicker than before and Ifrit's face now stood glaring hatefully down at him. "Then I'll just have to go faster," Ifrit retorted lowly, flinching his swords in his fists tightly.

Speedy gulped and started to take a step back. He didn't think Ifrit was that fast, but apparently he had been holding back on them during the prelim match. He saw Ifrit ready to attack him, rising up his swords as if readying to gut him with a scissor-cross slash, but then Aqualad came to his rescue by calling out to Ifrit. "Hey! I got your box! Don't you want it? Come and get it!"

Ifrit jerked his head toward the Atlantiean and teleported again. Aqualad immediately moved, expecting Ifrit to appear near where he stood, but as he darted to the side, Ifrit appeared right where he was going, having somehow guessed exactly where Aqualad was going to go.

"What the?" Aqualad let out before a fist grabbed his uniform and lifted him up.

"You braced yourself too soon in the direction you were planning to move to," came Ifrit's reply.

"Ah…" Aqualad sweatdropped and rubbed his head…with the hand that had previously been holding the box.

Ifrit spotted this and started looking around for his box, only to see Speedy now holding it and waving it in the air like a trophy. "Gotta keep your eye on the mark, ninja-boy!"

Ifrit replied with a snarl. He tossed Aqualad aside, not caring where he landed; only knowing that he threw him with enough force to stun the Titan East member long enough for him to get Speedy. He bolted right at Speedy by pivoting himself right at the air. The move caught the archer by surprise as he expected Ifrit to teleport again and was caught by Ifrit when his instinct kicked back in and he ducked out of the way. Ifrit's hand just barely grabbed the box and he growled in frustration at how close he had been.

Speedy jumped away and looked down at the box victoriously. "Let's see just what's so important in here, shall we?"

"Don't open it," Ifrit warned one more time.

"I think I will," Speedy replied and started going for the lid.

As he did, Cyborg burst into the room with an exhausted look, but that quickly changed to anger when he saw the state of the room and what the two Titans East members had done.

"What are two doing?!" Cyborg shouted at the top of his artificial lungs.

"Uh…room raid?" Speedy said meekly.

The sound of metallic knuckles cracking echoed in the room as Cyborg readied his fists. "We just had a major crisis happen to members of our team and you two numbskulls are pranking around with the guy who helped save all our butts?"

"We were just fooling around, you know? Thought we'd get to know more about the new guy," Speedy said, looking as if he was shrinking under Cyborg's intense gaze.

"You thought wrong, man," Cyborg growled and started stomping toward the archer. "Now get your act together, clean this room up after you give back Ifrit his box!"

"R-Right!" Speedy whimpered and quickly did as he was ordered to do. He ran over to Ifrit and practically thrust the box into his chest. "Here, sorry!"

Ifrit look ready to pummel Speedy right where he stood, but having the box back seemed to pacify him, as he clutched at the box tightly and jerked it away from Speedy, looking relieved to have it back. Right at this time, Aqualad woke up and only saw Ifrit with the box, not seeing Cyborg chewing out Speedy as he was forcing the archer to clean up the mess they had made. Thinking that Speedy had been subdued, Aqualad darted right for the box, jumping right at Ifrit and reaching out with his hands.

"I'll get it!" Aqualad shouted, startling everyone.

Ifrit did not expect the attack, having been too relieved to have his box back that he did not think to teleport out of the way when Aqualad tackled him. The two rolled on the ground and Ifrit felt distraught when the box slipped out of his fingers and the sound of breaking glass followed soon after. The sharp sound had made everyone pause. Ifrit, who had landed on his back after Aqualad ran into him, looked up over his head and stared upside down at the large hole now in the large window. Panicking, he kicked Aqualad off him and flipped himself around and scurried to his feet over to the broken window. He only got there just in time to see the box shatter into pieces on one of the rocks that littered the beach.

Cyborg ran over to the window and looked out to see the shattered remains and grimaced. "Ah man…"

Aqualad looked up dumbly, realizing what he had just done and gulped loudly. "…Whoops."

He should have remained silent as the noise drew Ifrit's full attention back to him. "…That's all you have to say?"

"L-Look, Ifrit! I didn't mean for it to fly out the window…We were just playing around. You know? Kind of a tradition at Titans East to raid the new guy's room as part of the initiation to joining," Aqualad said quickly.

"Ifrit isn't a part of Titans East. He's with us at, Titans West, and it was up to us to give his initiation prank, but now you two stooges messed up, and badly!" Cyborg roared as he turned to glare at Aqualad.

"C-Come on, Cy. We didn't mean any harm," Speedy tried to defend, only to get an angry Cyborg to stalk right up to him and snatch him right up off the floor.

"Out…now. I'll deal with you later. You've done enough here," Cyborg said with a mature, commanding tone they only heard once and back when he was leading their team after forming Titans East, then he let go of Speedy.

Speedy numbly nodded and quickly nodded to Aqualad to follow him out, who also nodded, and the two quickly left the room. Cyborg grumbled under his breath, not believing what they just did, and then turned to Ifrit who was looking back out the window.

"Ifrit, I'm sorry.."

Ifrit's head snapped back and his face was the image of a snarling beast. "Save it!" then he teleported away in a burst of red flames.

Running quickly over to the window, Cyborg looked out and saw Ifrit now on the rocky beach, kneeling down over the ruining remains of his belongings. The cybernetic titan sighed heavily, rubbing his neck in wariness. "Dang it all…"

Down on the beach, Ifrit looked to see any of his belongings survived the fall. During which, all he wanted to do was scream and destroy something. The urge to inflict harm was boiling up deep inside him and he wanted nothing more than to give in to that urge. It was rising up to the point he thought he would give into his desire…when a hand suddenly touched his shoulder and a cooling wave of calmness washed over him. Looking up over his shoulder, he saw Raven standing over him, looking down at him.

"I…felt your rage," Raven whispered.

Ifrit wanted to jerk her hand away. He wanted to be angry and her touch was robbing him of the familiar emotion. He had a right to be angry this time, but her touch was too soothing and this sense of peace was almost intoxicating. In moments, the burning rage inside him lessened and he just felt depressed. Raven stood there, letting whatever was happening between them work its magic. Why her powers were reacting like this with him, she couldn't understand, but she saw that he needed to calm down before things got out of hand again. She waited until she felt his body relax under her touch and then looked at the ruined remains. Using her powers, she picked up all the broken items and remains of the bamboo box and pulled them together. The broken fragments sealed back together and the box was made whole once more. The items that had filled it were placed back inside once any damage they suffered were repaired. She had the box float in front of Ifrit and waited until he reached out and took it.

He opened it and looked at each item quick, amazed that they were back in perfect condition. He looked at her in awe. "…You…fixed it."

"…My powers aren't just for throwing things or destroying them," Raven replied softly, kneeling down, keeping her hand on his shoulder.

"Arigatou…" Ifrit whispered and cradled the box to his chest.

"I…didn't really look at what was in them, but what all those things in there?" Raven said curiously.

"Moments," Ifrit said quietly. "Moments of when I found something other than anger to focus on." Opening the box up, he pulled out a white seashell edged with a tint of purple over its spiky surface. "…This was the first…when I saw the sea for the very first time. I felt something other than the need to hate, but to actually appreciate being alive."

Raven found herself smiling at him, then she looked at the box and was surprised to see what looked like…a Game Boy? Looking closer, she saw faint scratches on it and realized that Ifrit had craved his name into it. "Is that…?" she said while pointing at the handheld game device.

Ifrit grunted nervously. "The first gift I was given. I hardly ever put it down until I met sensei. I had to then otherwise. He would have destroyed it to keep me from being distracted from my training."

Raven reached out and picked up the Game Boy, flipping it around and her eyes widen some when she saw what game cartridge was resting inside it. She looked inside the box but saw there were no other game cartridges inside, leaving to assume that was the only one Ifrit ever played. "You like that game?"

Ifrit nodded and put the seashell back in the box, then politely took the Game Boy out of her hand and put it inside and closed his box. Raven suddenly stood up, drawing Ifrit's attention.

"Come with me…" Raven said.

Wordlessly, he followed her. They didn't teleport. Raven seemed to want to walk to wherever they wanted to go, and honestly, having her in his company once more made him feel happy. He wondered if it was the same with him for her? Maybe one day when he gathered up enough courage, he'd ask her. If he did, he would have learned that for Raven, it was exactly the same for her, only in place of the cooling calm. His presence filled her with a comforting warmth that almost made her feel like she was being hugged everywhere at once. She took the long way up…because she wanted to enjoy what his presence did for her.

They headed up the tower and soon Ifrit found they were heading back to the Living Quarters, more precisely…Raven's room. She opened her door and silently allowed him to enter. Not really sure why she wanted him in her room, he chose to be patient until she made her intentions clear. After closing her door, she then made her way over to her dresser and pulled out a dark chest. "…I never showed anyone this. If anyone ever knew I actually…like this, I would never hear the end of it."

Ifrit watched in silence as she opened the chest and looked at its contents. He was a bit startled to see pony figurines neatly standing in a row next to each other. "Excuse me, Butterbean," Raven murmured quietly as she picked up a butter-brown colored pony and two others to get at a black casing. She opened the casing and a shiny red game device slid out and she easily popped out a tiny white cartridge and held it up to Ifrit.

He took hold of it and his eyes widened in shock. "They made more of these?"

"I figured with how you were raised, you aren't in touch with the latest stuff, but yeah, they made a lot more of these," Raven said, taking the game cartridge back and sliding it back into her device. "This is called a 3DS. The games are played with better graphics and more content." She flipped open the device, showing the two signs and Ifrit saw on the top screen what looked like a blue stag with four sets of colorful horns on its head. "I blame Argent…she got me hooked on this game after we had a girl's night out and ended up at a game store. She wanted to get the new Pokémon game at that time…and secretly, I decided to see what the fuss was about…and I've been hooked ever since."

Ifrit looked at the device and frowned. "I feel…lame now seeing how far behind I really am with most things."

Raven averted her eyes to the side, shifting her hips some to the side. "Well…maybe tomorrow, I can help you get more…updated?"

"Explain?" Ifrit asked, tilting his head to the side.

Raven felt a blush rosining her cheeks. "…We g-go out to the mall…o-or a game store and I'll help you get a 3DS and games to go with it."

It finally dawned on him that Raven was asking to spend tomorrow with him…just the two of them. Now it was his turn to turn dark red and he started shifting nervously, rubbing his neck some. "I…would like that."

A faint smile rose up on Raven's face and she quickly put her things back into her chest, then back in her dresser. "Ifrit…" she said to gain his full attention. "I know things are weird…but one thing you'll learn about being with the Titans. You'll find yourself with a new way of looking at life after being with us. So, please don't be upset when we don't always act…smart."

Ifrit took her words to heart. "Thankfully, they have you to keep them on levelheaded."

"N-Now, we've got you," Raven said so faintly only Ifrit's sharp hearing could catch it.

"…I'm only good at cracking skulls," Ifrit replied back softly.

"That's fine. Most of the time that's what needs to be done to level everyone out," Raven said with a soft chuckle.

She was glad to hear it when Ifrit chuckled as well. "I look forward to when I get the chance then…but as for your offer. Yes…tomorrow, I would like to venture out to the mall or a game store, as long as your there to guide me."

Raven felt her face heat up greatly and go a little lightheaded. "S-Sure…"

Ifrit sensed her body heat rapidly go up and wondered if what he said caused it. But if he was reading her right, she was extremely embarrassed and must be getting uncomfortable with the way this conversation was going. He decided he should leave before it got too awkward. "I better go clean the mess Speedy and Aqualad made. Get my things sorted out better and familiarize myself with my room."

Raven nodded and then walked him to her door. Before he opened it to leave, she reached out once more and touched his arm. That strange feeling once more swept through both of them and this time, Raven saw red coils reach out from Ifrit's body and intertwined with the blue coils that extended out of her hand. He froze and sighed inwardly, relishing the feeling for a full minute, then turned to her, taking her hand into his.

"Arigatou…Karasu-chan," Ifrit said and then he quickly departed from her room, leaving Raven frozen at the spot after hearing what he just called her.

Her eyes followed him until he was gone from her sight, ducking into his room. It wasn't until another minute went by that Raven moved, closing her door and then leaned her back on it, and for the first time in her life, she was extremely eager to go to the mall.

_**xXx**_

**A/N: Omg, I finally got this done and out…I had it half-finished for the longest time, but only now got around to finishing it. Sorry everyone for the long way, but I hope this was worth the long wait. I'm going to focus on getting this fanfiction done, putting all my other stories to the side until I get this one done. This was my first fanfiction after all…and I think it's time it was given more attention. **

**Now then, there will no doubt be people that will be upset that I gave Raven and Ifrit a common like with Pokémon. People who are familiar with my original work will be familiar with this, but really. I don't care. I think Cartoon Network did worse with their Teen Titans Go when they made Raven a fan of "Pretty Pretty Pegasus", so I don't think I could do worse. If you still disagree, oh well. We all have that one thing in life we cherish but don't want others to realize we like.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer**: **No I don't own Teen Titans or Batman; both are the rightful property of DC Comics and Cartoon Network. Only rights pertaining to this story is the plot and original character: Ifrit.**

**A/N: SURPRISE! A double-post of the same fanfiction. AHAHAHAHA!...God my hands are killing me...T_T**

_**xXx**_

**A New Start**

Next day came quickly, much to Raven's inner delight. After Titans East left to return to their own tower…and after Speedy and Aqualad got a major chew-out from Cyborg…the Titans West took the time to enjoy Ifrit's cooking, whom had remained in his room the remainder of the day and all night. After the incident no one wanted to bug him. Raven gone to bed and woke up her usual time, but as she was taking care of her morning amenities, she paused as she looked at her outfit. She was always wearing her combat outfit. Nothing was ever wrong with that, just she always seemed to be wearing the same thing day after day…

Maybe it was because she never changed her habits; like wearing the same outfit, might have led to a different outcome with certain members on the team. Either way, she felt as if it wouldn't do to just go out with Ifrit wearing the same set of clothes. She still had time to prep some, the mall wouldn't be open for another hour, and she wasn't too sure when Ifrit would want to head out. So with that thought in mind, she went to her closet and took her time going through her clothes and trying on different things.

Wearing different outfits wasn't really something she did. That was more Starfire's thing. But Raven actually was thankful that the alien princess dragged her out occasionally to the mall to look for stuff. It made Raven have a nice selection to pick from, having bought a few things that did catch her eye…and to get Starfire to shut the hell up when they were in clothe stores. Her nagging had led to Raven going through a variety of things, until she finally found what she felt would be right.

She ended up attired in dark blue jeans with a golden chain-belt hanging off her hips like her gem-belt. She switched out her normal boots for black one-inched heeled boots. Replacing her leotard was a black shirt that hugged her body nicely and showed just a bit of her midriff, letting her hourglass shape body still visible to the eye. Then over the shirt she put on a dark blue hoodie. After she was finished, she looked at herself in the mirror, looking at how the jeans looked on her legs.

"Hmm, I should wear pants more…" Raven muttered to herself before pulling the hood up over her head, giving her face the familiar shadowy look her cloak's hood would. "That's more like it."

Confident with her choice, she ventured out of her room and headed to where she sensed Ifrit. Her journey led her back up to the roof where he was once again was practicing his rapid teleporting training, fighting his phantom images. She watched and once more admire how mentally disciplined he was to be able to move so quickly from one place to another, coming up with counters and strikes to images of himself. Not being a physical fighter, she wasn't able to read his technique. It was so random and yet was precise and Ifrit appeared to be thinking two steps ahead of every move he made.

After he had finished, Ifrit turned to her, having noticed her the moment she appeared on the roof. He had to pause to admire her attire. It wasn't until he realized that he was letting his eyes roam over her body that she might consider that rude. He stopped and then forced his eyes up to meet her faced face. "Gu-Tenmorugen, karasu-hime," he greeted her.

Seeing her inquisitive expression, he corrected himself. "I mean…Good morning, Raven-chan."

"Oh, that's what you said," Raven said, a soft smile rising up on her face. "what's with the chan bit, by the way."

Ifrit shifted his eyes some. Once again he was wearing a face mask so it was hard for her to read his expression, but she was an empath and she could read when she reached out with her senses that he was feeling bashful. "…It's a term of endearment…with females that someone has become a close friend with." _It's a bit more than that, but I think that's the safest explanation for the time…_

Her eyes widened as her entire face turned beet red. "J-Just Raven is fine!"

Ifrit shook his head. "In my upbringing, it would be insulting if I just referred to you as 'just' Raven."

Raven groaned some. If the others heard Ifrit call her down, they would seriously get the wrong ideas and pick on her about it. _Then again…so what if they get the wrong idea? It's none of their business, anyway._ Raven actually was amazed that she thought that. Ever since she joined the Teen Titans she had pretended to not care, but she had always been conscious of what her teammates thought of her. This was the first she could honestly state that she really felt it didn't matter. _Oh…crap, I think this is getting serious._

Ifrit tilted his head. Her heat signature spiked and he could hear how hard her heart was pounding. He made her nervous again and he didn't like that. Thinking it was best to get her mind on something else, Ifrit turned to look out at the city. "Should we be on our way?"

"Yes!" Raven blurted out, wanting nothing more than to get out of another embarrassing situation. She stormed off over to the edge of the roof…not aware that behind her, the door that led back into the tower had twisted itself like a pretzel and the frame had cracked badly.

Raven started to fly off the roof, but then remembered that Ifrit couldn't. She turned to help him out, but once more he just took a step right off the edge of the roof and disappeared into flames when he was halfway down. He appeared on the beach and waved up at her, then disappeared in flames again. Raven reached out with the strange sense that let her know where he was and detected him waiting for her on the harbor. Flying over the sea, she reached the harbor in less than a minute and found him sitting on a prior, dangling one foot off the edge. When she hovered over him, He saluted her and teleported to the top of the closest building. After she floated up to him there, he signaled for her to lead the way.

Understanding that he would follow her in that method, she took off toward the direction of the mall; Ifrit running and zipping over rooftops and teleporting when a rooftop was too far to jump to. In less than five minutes, having moved at an impressive speed, they reached the mall and Raven floated down at the entrance, Ifrit appearing next to her after a short burst of red flames. Once more without words, the two continued on inside and Raven led him toward the game store. In a way, she felt a little ridiculous going out with a guy to buy a video game. It was so unlike her, but since it was Ifrit who she was doing it with, it seemed okay.

As they walked, she noticed that Ifrit getting a bit stiff when they walked into some of the crowded areas. He obviously didn't like to be around lots of people and seemed to be looking for any signs of a threat. She wasn't too fond of being in crowds herself, if she had to be honest. All those times she was dragged here by Starfire, being yanked throw hordes of people who gawked and stared when they realized who they were. Not to mention how many creeps she's had to brush off that thought they could get her to go out with them, or get into her leotard. Oh, yes, she's had to deal with those types and was the main reason she hated coming to the mall.

One time she had to stop Starfire because she thought a group of guys tried to play on her ignorance of earth customs and show her the 'greeting' to a hot girl like her. Now Starfire wasn't a total idiot, she knew when someone was trying to dupe her. At least…she did now thanks to Raven filling in some blank areas for her. Mainly when random guys tried to take her into a secluded area, it wasn't to show her the kind of good time she would believe. That first time, though, was a close call, and Raven ended up having to pin the morons trying to get Starfire to leave with them to the wall, upside down…with their pants off. The security guards at the mall still talked about how the railing of the second floor ended up strapped around a bunch of half-naked punks.

After that incident, Raven made sure to make Starfire aware that not all earthlings had the best intentions when they approached her, acting like they wanted to be friends. Starfire had expressed she had thought that was their intention, but she was fearful of insulting an earthling custom. Now that she was set right, the perverts all knew to not try tricking her, or risk learning just how frightening strong she was…

She led Ifrit start to the game store, wanting to get there and done as fast as possible. She wasn't keen on anyone that might know her seeing her enter an actual video game store, let alone what kind of game she was there for. She wasn't sure if Ifrit felt the same, but gauging from how many people he was giving a death glare to, he was interesting in getting it quickly. Upon entering the store, she inwardly sighed in relief when she spotted the employee working behind the counter.

The employee noted them the moment they entered, regarding them warily at first as both of them were wearing hoods over their heads, but then smiled upon recognition. She was of oriental descent, dressed in the store's red and black logo T-shirt, black pants and black tennis shoes. Her hair was probably her most distinguished feature, as it was azure blue and done up in two spikey ponytails with black highlights. Scooting around the counter, she jogged up to them and leaned in and said excitedly, "Hey, Raven. Been awhile. I wasn't expecting to see you till they announced the new Poké game."

Raven waved lightly. "Actually…here for the same game, but it's not for me." She turned to Ifrit. "This is Ying. Met her when I came here with Argent…she's subtle with things."

"Anything you need, I'll see you get it without all the flash and attention," Ying said, smiling at Ifrit. "Love the ninja look, you pull it off well."

"Because I am one," Ifrit said bluntly.

"Oh…wait, seriously?" Ying uttered, starting at him with stars starting to light up in her eyes. "I've always wanted to meet a real ninja!"

Under his hood, Ifrit raised an eyebrow. "Why?"

"Because they're so cool! They can leap about on rooftops, run up walls, appear and then disappear without a trace! It's all so awesome!" Ying exclaimed, now with sparkles in her eyes as she leaned toward Ifrit.

Ifrit almost took a step back from the weird girl. He was alarmed by her but he couldn't tell if it was in a bad way. He tilted his head to Raven, silently asking for help.

"Down, Ying. Ifrit's new in town and new around people," Raven said upon seeing the gesture.

Ying immediately backed off. "Oh, sorry. I didn't mean to offend. Just let me know next time I cross a boundary, okay?"

"Hai," Ifrit muttered, then walked off to explain the store's contents, seemingly ignoring her completely now.

Ying shot a pouty look at his back and then glanced at Raven. "Wow, talk about no personality…" she uttered rudely. "If I didn't know better, it was like I was talking to…oh…er…"

Raven slowly glared back at her. "Like whom, pray tell?"

"Oh, look, your boyfriend looks like he needs help! I better see what I can do!" Ying said quickly upon seeing the danger, then dashed off over to Ifrit who was staring at a poster of what looked like a pirate but with a white hood over his head.

Had Ying looked back, she would have seen Raven completely rooted at the spot. Under her hood, her face was almost crimson red and people outside the store were starting to cry in alarm as random objects started to float, explode, or crack into pieces. _B-Boyfriend?! _ That word repeated in her head like an insane mantra. It struck a deep in her core that left her felt her feeling, well, if she had to put a word to it: fuzzy inside.

_I just met him…I couldn't have…but it's only been…Frecking Azar, I think I have,_ Raven mental freaked out.

She wasn't sure what to make of these feelings. The last time she let herself feel anything like this resulted in freeing a cursed evil dragon trapped inside a book. That did not end well and left her feeling things she was all too glad to block away forever. It wasn't really the best experience for someone like her who had major issues when it came to _ANY_ kind of positive emotion. Whenever she came close to feeling like that again, she's have the emoticon that represented that particular feeling…and lock it up in a deep, dark corner in her mindscape until it stopped acting out.

Speaking of her emoticons, Happy was jumping around completely ecstatic and Bravery was hooting and hollering at her to jump Ifrit's bones. Knowledge looked to be reading a book…one with a symbol of a heart on it. Timid actually looked hopeful, peeking out from behind a twisted tree she was hiding behind. Laziness…well, she was passed out cold and sprawled out shamelessly on the ground. But what got her on edge was Rage, her most difficult emoticon. It didn't look happy at all, and by not happy, it wasn't smiling like a demon. It was actually snarling like a feral cat that just came across another cat invading its territory.

Suddenly in that moment, a voice, one that echoed like her own but held a tinge of softness and calm in it spoke. _You're not far off with that one, Raven._

_Who are you!_ Raven demanded instantly, not familiar with this presence.

A soft giggle filled her mind and it made her feel warm and…centered. _I've just awoken, Raven. Since the day you defeated Trigon, I appeared in your mind, and I have been getting stronger each day, but only now, after you have accepted what you feel, have I gained enough strength to speak to you know. Welcome me to your fold, Raven…I am Benevolence._

In her mindscape, Raven caught the image of an emoticon in a gold cloak, gleaming with a white light. When it appeared, Rage hissed hatefully and looked ready to lash out at the new emoticon. Benevolence looked at the red emoticon with a calm smile and started to walk toward it. Rage snarled more and flexed its hands like they were claws, but as Benevolence neared her, the angry emoticon started to back away, looking intimidated by the newest of Raven's emoticons. As Benevolence continued to approach and seemingly welcome Rage's presence, the red emoticon fled as fast as it could to the darker part of Raven's mindscape. Benevolence appeared sad that Rage ran away from her, but it nodded its head in understanding.

_Rage cannot comprehend my presence…what I represent is completely foreign to her, as darkness is chased away by the light, so is hatred banished by love,_ Benevolence said softly.

_You're my…_Raven whispered mentally.

_Indeed, I am here because you've come a long way from the person you used to be, and because _he_ made it possible,_ Benevolence giggled softly and then walked away to introduce herself with the other emoticons, leaving Raven completely flabbergasted.

Raven was beyond shock. In but a single moment, a new emoticon made itself known to her, one that represented the total opposite of her most troublesome and negative emotion. How could this be possible? Looking over at Ifrit, she remembered Benevolence's exact words and she surmised that the new emoticon was referring to him. They only knew each other for a short while. How could things have progressed so rapidly? This couldn't be. Her mind was trying to rationally tell her that it was impossible.

Things were never like this with…well, _him_. But with Ifrit, it was going so…in one word: right.

"Hey, Raven! You gotta help me talk Ifrit into getting a Xbox One!" Ying's voice cut into Raven's mind.

"Huh…wait, what?" Raven uttered, realizing she had been spacing out that entire time.

Ying came over to her, grabbed her wrist, and yanked her over to where Ifrit was examination the game the poster was advertising. "He totally should get one if he wants to really upgrade his gaming styles!"

"Uh…" Raven shook her head to clear it. "R-Right, yeah. Umm, I heard from Robin how the guys really like the new game console."

Ifrit responded to this. "If you say it is, then I believe it."

Ying placed a hand on her hip and glared some at him. "When I said that, you just grunted."

She expected a response from him, but Ifrit was looking at another game, seemingly ignoring her again.

"Ugh! What's with this guy!" Ying groaned. "Totally rude!"

"…He takes some getting used to, but when you get to know him…he's really something," Raven said softly, hugging her arms.

Ifrit paused in his examination and glanced at Raven over his shoulder. There was a look in his eyes that made his eyes soften. He then turned to Ying. "What do you suggest, Ying?"

Ying beamed and ran over to start explaining all the systems and what games had gotten the best responses from players. Raven remained a bit in the back and watched Ifrit, finding herself not able to stop smiling while she did. It really made her feel special that he was trying to open up. She could feel that from him. Her empathic abilities told her he was close to being calm. That boiling rage was trying to boil up, but he was fighting to keep is suppress as best he could.

She felt an impulse to walk right up to him, then, and she did. She moved to the opposite of him where Ying couldn't see and touched the back of his shoulder. As before, when her hand touched him, those coils reached out and she felt a wave of warmth rush down her body. With her empathic powers still reading Ifrit, she felt his rage wash away and he started to relax greatly. He glanced at her under his hood and somehow even with the mask on, she could tell he was smiling at her.

It took them a while to go through the store. As they did, they were Ifrit began to feel nervous as the items Ying continued to pile up behind the counter grew. "This is nice…but I think I should stick to something…small."

Ying gawked at him. "After everything I just said, how are you still NOT interested in bigger and better?"

Ifrit reached up and rubbed his neck, looking down. "I'm not sure how I plan to afford all of it. I only have a small amount of income on me…I don't think…"

Raven whipped out a green card and tapped his arm with it. "I'll handle it. About time I put the royalties I'm making to good use."

"Royalties?" Ifrit and Ying repeated at the same time.

Raven looked away shyly. "Yeah…thanks to a trip to Tokyo and agreeing to sponsor some chewing gun, the company's been doing great. So they've given me two percent in royalties…and some stock bonds in the company."

"Two percent? That doesn't really sound like much," Ying said, not sounding impressed.

"You'd be surprised how much two percent makes from a company that's now branching out to selling its product worldwide now," Raven said, smirking inwardly as she remembered the large numbered check she got in the mail…and have been continuing to get. "So go wild Ying…" she then jabbed her elbow at Ifrit. "This isn't just for you…I plan on playing them, too, but you are to never tell anyone about this back at the tower…or I melt it all, got it?"

Ifrit chuckled lightly and nodded. "Sounds fair."

Raven put the card on the table and looked deadly serious at Ying. "Go wild…"

Ying had stars in her eyes and almost floating off the ground. "You are so my favorite customer!"

Raven waved it off. "…I'm the bee's knees, I know. But let's get this over with."

"That sounds more like you," Ying smirked and then started finishing up.

Ying moved at a speed that would have impressed some of the speedier members of the Teen Titans as she grabbed more stuff to add to the already large pile. By the time she had finished, she was panting for air but looked extremely ecstatic. "This should keep you busy for a long…extremely long time."

Ifrit looked at the near tower now before him and looked at Raven. "…I had no idea there was so much involved in playing video games."

Raven could only gawk as she, too, stared up at the pile, wondering if she might have make a mistake in letting Ying run wild. "…Yep."

Ying peeked around the pile, smiling like the Cheshire Cat itself. "This has been the most fun I've had working here!" Her eyes widening. "HEY! I'll tell you what. I'm gonna get off in another hour. What say I help you guys set all these systems up for ya, hmm?"

Ifrit shrugged and looked at Raven. "I have no qualms unless there is a rule at the tower against it."

Raven shook her head. "So long as she's escorted at all times, she can be at the tower."

"Awesome! I've always wanted to see how you guys chilled out in that tower!" Ying said excitedly. "I'll ring these up and then hold onto them and we head out to the tower. I gotta car so you don't have to…"

"Just ring it up, I'll worry about transporting them," Ifrit cut in politely.

"…Whatever you say, muscles. I'm not sure how you plan on moving all these things by yourself," Ying replied as she started ringing the items up.

Once she was finished and swiped Raven's card, Ifrit and Raven stared wide-eyed at the total that came up. Seeing the large number, Raven would definitely have to take some time to play some of these things, just so she could justify spending so much at once. After she got her card back and put it away, Ying put as many of the items in bags as she could. Once she finished, Ifrit step forward before Ying to ask what he was going to do and then grabbed a few of the bags and teleported out of the store.

Not expecting him to suddenly go up in flames, Ying squeaked out in alarm and jumped away. "Whoa! He can teleport?"

Raven started to nod when Ifrit returned, grabbing more bags and teleported back out.

Ifrit repeated this two more times and then returned and looked at Raven. "I placed the items in your room, Raven. After…the room raid…I don't really trust anyone not staying out of my room."

"Room raid?" Ying replied with a look of confusion.

"Yeah, two of our members thought it would be a good hazing for Ifrit if they rummaged through his stuff. They ended up breaking some things that were precise to Ifrit…" Raven answered for Ifrit when he did not seem sure of how to respond.

"What? They trashed your stuff? Oh, hell no. Raven, you tell me who they are and I'll ban them from the store! No one has the right to go around and breaking our people's treasures!" Ying exclaimed heatedly, not aware that she had just earned some points from Ifrit as he now gazed as her with a friendlier look.

"Aqualad and Speedy are their names," Ifrit revealed, wishing very much that he was the smirking type. All he could manage was barely half a smile. That was all he could manage, not being used to expressing anything…granted he was wearing a face mask under his hood, but it still counted to him.

"BANNED!" Ying shouted extremely loudly that even the people outside of the store flinched back at the outburst. "I'll have the other employees be aware those two knuckleheads are banned…and not just this store…hehehehe." She smiled evilly. "I'll have the other stores and even the ones out in Steel City have them banned. They'll be force to get their games at…WAL-MART! MUAHAHAHAHAHA!"

Raven smirked. "…Perfect."

Ifrit blinked at the now crazy girl. "Nani…?"

Yuri rubbed her hands as she plotted out her sinister plan. "This is gonna be sweet…"

"We'll leave you to your plotting. Ifrit and I are gonna go grab something to eat until you get off work, okay?" Raven said, and not even thinking about it, she instinctively reached out and took Ifrit's arm and started leading him out of the store.

Ifrit did not object to being pulled out. The action felt as nature to him as breathing, oddly. Besides, if he thought about it, Raven was more familiar with this mall and knew where everything was. It was just easier to let her be the guide. At least that was how he explained it to himself. He shook it off. It didn't really matter. Just spending time with this enchanting sorceress…

Raven showed him to the food court, both getting a slice of pizza and settling down in one of the tables that was somewhat walled off. It gave them some privacy and less chances of someone disturbing them. Ifrit appeared to like her thought-form as he sat down and pulled off his mask. The angle he was sitting allowed him to see everyone in the food court out of the corner of his eye, and detect if anyone tried to sneak up on them. Call it paranoia, whatever. It was ingrained into his core to always be watchful and never drop his guard. That latter part was somewhat harder than it used to be as while they sat there, Raven sat close enough to rest her foot against his, continuing that strange connection they have been experiencing.

After they ate their meal quietly, then Ifrit felt they needed to talk about this strange thing that was happening between them. "…Raven, has this ever happened to you before?"

Raven was just taking a slip from her drink, her lips wrapped around her straw and Ifrit found himself gazing down at them. _…Wow, she's cute…_

Raven gulped down her drink and put it down, not aware at all of just what Ifrit had just thought. "You mean these weird coil things that keep happening whenever we make contact? No, this is a first for me…You?"

"No, I've never had this happen…or anything that left be feeling so…at ease," Ifrit revealed.

"So it does affect you like that," Raven said.

Ifrit nodded. "How does it affect you?"

"…It's like I'm drawing in your body heat. It makes me feel warm and secure inside," Raven murmured.

"For me…when I feel your touch, it's like a cool wave washed over me and pushes back my anger," Ifrit replied, gazing at her seriously. "I have tried many things to suppress this rage of mine, Raven. Nothing has worked…" He reached out and took a hold of her hand. "Until I met you."

They fell silent after Ifrit said those words. Raven couldn't say anything because she was swelling up with a feeling that she knew was being caused by Benevolence, who was smiling fondly at both of them from her mindscape. This feel was overwhelming and compared to nothing else she has ever experienced. Even Rage could not match the level of depth that coursed through her entire being. After a while of just sitting there, Raven started rubbing her foot against Ifrit's, who in response gently squeezed her hand. Then at some point, Raven started to notice that their heads were leaning in towards one another.

Soon their faces were but an inch away from one another and that space was rapidly coming as Ifrit started to angle his head so his lips were aligned with hers.

"Raven…like, is that you?" a dulled, almost lifeless voice uttered in disbelief.

The moment between them ended instantly when Raven's eyes widened out in surprise. She pulled away from Ifrit and groaned when she turned to a lanky youth dressed in punk Goth-style and bore into his expressionless eyes. "…What do you want, Goth?"

Ifrit quickly scanned the guy for any signs of danger as he yanked his mask back over his face. "You know this person?"

"Yeah…" Raven said with a hint of regret.

Goth stared blankly at the pair. "So, Raven. You like wanna-be ninjas now, huh? Thought you were a full Goth girl. I mean, the guys style is close to being cool…but still kinda lame."

Ifrit's left eyebrow twitched ever so slightly. _Note to self…find this guy in an alley and beat him senseless…and hope I stop._

"Goth, didn't think you still slinked about the mall," Raven drawled, sounding completely annoyed. "This is Ifrit. He just joined the Teen Titans."

"Just joined? So, like, you both just met?" Goth uttered and gave Ifrit a blank, unbelieving stare.

Ifrit chose to try and be civil. "Hai…"

"You know Japanese? Or do you just act like you do? I watch a lot of anime, too, so I can tell pretenders from the fakes," Goth stated.

A flicker of red flashed over Ifrit's eyes, then he said repeatedly. _"Narabi otaki nou nani en-gozen rigen. Sokode kouro naishi en mune…gatto douyou ato buta."_

Goth's face remained blank. "That is so fake…"

Ifrit chuckled intimidatingly. "You didn't understand a word I said, did you?"

"I think you called me a pig," Goth replied curtly.

"Then I will fully translate for you," Ifrit said roughly, disappearing from the table in swirl of fire and reappeared behind Goth, grabbing the guy by the neck and forcing his ear close to Ifrit's mouth. "I said: _If you know what I'm saying, then run or I will gut you like a pig…_" His hand started to slowly crush Goth's neck, showing him just how strong he was and that he would carry out his threat, then quickly released the punk Goth.

Some life filtered into Goth's vacant eyes as fear ran across his face and he started backing away from Ifrit and bolted away, looking back to make sure Ifrit wasn't chasing after him. Ifrit smirked and then returned to his seat. Raven stared at him in puzzlement, having not heard what Ifrit said to Goth. "What did you do?"

"I gave him a choice…he showed wisdom and took the best one," Ifrit replied simply as he shrugged, pulling his mask down and letting Raven see the mischievous smirk on creeping on his face.

Raven matched the smirk and rubbed the edge of her foot against his once more. "Thanks…things have always been awkward around him since he decided to show he was a douchebag."

"Douchebag? What did he do?" Ifrit asked.

"…We _saw _each other for a while. Nothing serious, just two dark, dreary spirits that collided and understood our chosen life style. That is what I thought at first. Turns out Goth was one of those people that acted like he was a dark soul, but really he wasn't. He turned out to be like a lot of typical guys and soon started pushing for things I was ready for. By things…I mean emotional affection."

_Note to self: find him in a dark alley, never stop beating him_ Ifrit growled in his mind. "Enough said…"

"Yeah…I stopped seeing him after he started trying to press things. But he seems to still think he and I are a…thing," Raven worded carefully.

"Then I can assume he thinks you are still his?" Ifrit said, feeling a ting of anger rising back up.

Raven rolled her eyes. "He can think what he wants. No one owns me…" _At least, not yet…_

Ifrit felt relieved that she wasn't interested in that lanky pole stick. It took him a minute to realize that he had been jealous of the prick, until he heard from Raven there was nothing to worry about. But he had to wonder about something else. "Were there any other…acquaintances?"

Raven's mood darkened some. "Yeah…there was one other. He used me and in the end…tried to kill me."

_New goal in life: Find the one and make him suffer before sending him to the next life_ Ifrit decreed.

"I don't want to talk about him, especially not now…I'd rather remember this day on a good note," Raven remarked and then scooted over close to him, just enough so their arms brushed against each other. "I'd rather pick up where we left off before we were interrupted…"

"Are you sure?" Ifrit wondered.

"Yeah…I am," Raven said softly, leaning in, wanting to finish what they started.

Ifrit was willing to continue, too, but it seemed they were denied the chance one more when he spotted Ying entering the food court. "I think will may have to pick this up later…Ying's here."

Raven withdrew with a slight pout of annoyance on her face, but sighed and dealt with it. "…This isn't over."

"I would hope not…" Ifrit replied, giving her a half smile before pulling his mask back up over his face.

Ying spotted them soon enough and wandered over to their table, waving at them excitedly. "Hey, guys!"

Raven waved lightly. "Want to eat something here or wait till later?"

"I'll raid your kitchen. Give me a longer excuse to spend at your tower," Ying giggled.

Raven shrugged, then they got up to leave and followed Ying out to the parking lot. Ying showed she drove a chrome black and dark orange motorcycle. When they approached it, Ying leaned on the seat and smirked at Ifrit. "You'd like this, Ifrit. It's a Kawasaki Ninja ZX-14 ABS."

"Looks fast, I can see why they labeled ninja to its name," Ifrit remarked.

"Oh, this is my pride…and she's extremely fast," Ying said, running a hand on the seat affectionately. "I've had many fun times on this baby…"

"Hmm, that's nice that its fast…but this is faster," Ifrit remarked and took hold of Ying's shoulder, then took a hold of Raven's.

The next moment, they were surrounded in a vortex of fire, motorcycle included, and in a blink of an eye, they appeared in the Vehicle Bay along. Ying looked around, flabbergasted. "What the...? Did we just…?"

"Hai," Ifrit said and the released his hold on Ying, but kept his hand on Raven's shoulder.

"That was so awesome!" Ying exclaimed, shooting a fist up into the air.

Raven looked up at Ifrit, impressed. "I didn't think you could teleport that wide a range."

"I'm full of surprises," Ifrit remarked playfully at her, making her blush some.

Ying caught this, and said, "Aww, you guys are really a cute couple."

Raven fumbled some but she didn't object to what Ying said, neither did Ifrit, who chuckled dryly.

"Let's go get you set up, Ifrit," Raven said quickly, floating up and quickly heading for the elevator.

Ying giggled at her expense and then looked at Ifrit. "She never likes it when I tease her. This is the first time I've seen her let me get away with it. You really are something, aren't you?" Ifrit answered with a stoic look, then walked off to catch up to Raven. Ying sighed and shook her head before she giggled once more. "Things are really getting interesting around here."


End file.
